Mixed Up Worlds
by starrynightsx
Summary: Yusuke and his gang have to face a number of attacks focused on Chikara, Yusuke's younger sister. Eventually she develops trust in the team, mainly Hiei, to guard her as she deals with demons and her newfound powers and abilities. HieixOC a little bit...
1. Clubs and Secrets

_Hailie I know you miss your mom and I know you miss your dad When I'm gone but I'm trying to give you the life that I never had I can see you're sad, even when you smile, even when you laugh I can see it in your eyes, deep inside you want to cry Cuz you're scared, I ain't there? Daddy's with you in your prayers No more crying, wipe them tears Daddy's here, no more nightmares We gon' pull together through it, we gon' do it Laney uncles crazy, aint he? Yeah but he loves you girl and you better know it We're all we got in this world When it spins, when it swirls When it whirls, when it twirls Two little beautiful girls Lookin' puzzled, in a daze I know it's confusing you Daddy's always on the move, mamma's always on the news I try to keep you sheltered from it but somehow it seems The harder that I try to do that, the more it backfires on me All the things growing up his daddy that he had to see Daddy don't want you to see but you see just as much as he did We did not plan it to be this way, your mother and me But things have gotten so bad between us I don't see us ever being together ever again Like we used to be when we was teenagers  
But then of course everything always happens for a reason I guess it was never meant to be But it's just something we have no control over and that's what destiny is But no more worries, rest your head and go to sleep Maybe one day we'll wake up and this will all just be a dream…_

"Does she have to play that so loud? It's depressing!" Keiko shouted, hands over her ears.

"Hey, I have to listen to this every day! Don't complain!" Yusuke shouted, undisturbed by the music.

"I still can't believe you had an younger sister and none of us have ever met her! What's wrong with you Urameshi?" Kuwabara shouted over the song.

"Not my fault that she's a loner!" A pillow came from out of nowhere and hit Yusuke straight in the face. Another one followed that, nailing Yusuke in the stomach.

"What the… " Yusuke and everybody else looked up to see a 15-year-old girl standing at the top of the stairs. She had long black hair down to her waist tied back into a ponytail and was wearing a pink midriff halter and a black denim mini.

"I heard that! And just because I'm a year younger than you don't mean I can't listen to the music I want," she said, shooting a look at Keiko, "or that I have to hang out with a bunch of your little friends when they come. Got it?" she asked, glaring at her 16-year-old brother.

"Whatever, twerp," Another pillow came hurtling down and hit Yusuke in the head.

"Chikara!" Yusuke looked up in time to see the girl running down the hallway to her room.

"She's stubborn," observed Kurama.

"Have you told her about, you know…?" Botan trailed off. Yusuke shook his head.

"Why not, man? She's your sister after all. She deserves to know about your job as…" A pillow thrown by Yusuke hit Kuwabara before he could finish.

"Shut up! She can hear us in her room, even with that music playing!" Yusuke hissed.

"Her hearing is that acute?" Keiko whispered. Yusuke nodded.

"I can hear you!" Chikara's voice came from her room.

"See?" Yusuke said.

Meanwhile, in Chikara's room, _Mockingbird_ had ended and _Like Toy Soldiers_ was playing. She sprawled out on her bed and rested her head on her pillow. It was silver and had a wolf picture on it. Her room was filled with wolves. Her walls were silver with wolves painted on, though there were so many pictures hanging on the walls, so it was hard to see the wolves. Her ceiling had a gray wolf picture painted on and her blankets were black with howling wolves decorating it. Her carpet was hot pink with a wolf pack running. Chikara was fascinated with wolves ever since she was five, when she had gone to a zoo and seen a wolf exhibit. Her armoire was black and sat in the corner across from her bed. But her clothes weren't in the armoire; they were in a closet across the room from her bed. In her armoire were many different swords and daggers. She had taken sword classes for two years and kept all the weapons that she had been given, collecting her own as well. She opened her armoire and took out the sword that had been given to her by her father when she had graduated her first year. It had a black hilt with sapphire on the bottom and a sharp, straight blade. Chikara had painted a wolf on the blade with washable dye. The sword felt light in her hands and she began to swing it around, getting used to holding a sword once again. This was her first time in two years touching the weapons in her armoire since her tousan passed away. _Like Toy Soldiers_ ended and the CD stopped playing. Somebody knocked on her door. Startled, Chikara dropped the sword and it hit the ground with a _thud!_

"Chikara, what's going on in there?" Yusuke asked as he tried to pick the lock.

"Nothing's going on! You'd better not come in!" Chikara snapped as she hastily put the sword back in its place and closed the armoire. She opened her door and found Yusuke standing there, about to knock again.

"What do you want?"

"Hey, chill. We were just heading…"

"No,"

"Would you let me finish at least, Chikara!"

"Fine,"

"We were heading to that new club by the arcade and…"

"Club Nova?"

"Yeah, but anyways, do you want to come?"

"How'd you get in? Why do you suddenly want to go? If I remember correctly, you said that you wouldn't go there if it was the last place in the world,"

"Yeah, well, there's special circumstances like now, for instance," Yusuke stammered.

"You have a mission there, don't you?" Chikara smirked.

"How did you…" Yusuke stumbled over his words. Chikara smirked, enjoying every minute of it.

"I have my ways. Fine, I'll go. But only because Club Nova is the coolest place in town,"

"Whatever, just be ready in five minutes or we're leaving without you," Yusuke turned to go.

"I'd like to see you try," Chikara whispered loud enough for him to hear. Yusuke flinched and Chikara shut the door. She pulled on a black denim jacket and slipped into silver strappies. In the bathroom of her room, she let out her ponytail and streaked her hair pink, drying the dye with her hair dryer. She put a pair of silver dangles with a wolf on the end in her ears and chose five black chokers and 20 pink bracelets, ten for each arm. Chikara applied lip gloss, black mascara and black eye liner and she was ready to go. Botan and Keiko and Yukina, an ice apparition who appeared out of nowhere, went to freshen up in the bathroom at the end of the hall. Chikara walked to the top of the stairs and looked down at the guys, who had been ready without changing. She was the first girl to be done and now she wished she had taken longer. All the guys were staring up at her, speechless, except for Yusuke.

"What are you thinking, Chikara? You are not going out dressed like that! That is way too much cleavage!" Chikara, while her older brother was screaming his head off, had gone back to her room to get extra lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara. When she got back to the top of the stairs, Yusuke was still blowing his top. Chikara, annoyed at her overprotective brother, jumped over the railing of the stairs, much to Yusuke's disliking and everybody else's surprise. She landed on her feet perfectly fine and was glad her little stunt shut him up.

"You can scream all you want, but I'm not going to change, got it?" Yusuke grumbled and fell on the couch to Chikara's delight. She and the guys waited for hours before the other three girls were done. By then, Chikara caught Kurama and Hiei eyeing her so many times, she was about to change her mind and go back upstairs.

It was around 6 pm when they got to Club Nova. Koenma, Yusuke's boss, had gotten them VIP seats. Yusuke and Kuwabara had to punch a few guys because they kept hitting on Keiko and Yukina. Somebody has a little crush, thought Chikara slyly.

"You just figured that out? Amusing and pathetic," Hiei appeared by her side.

"You read my mind?" Hiei smirked as a reply to her question, "Hello, do you know what privacy is?" Chikara snapped, annoyed. Hiei said nothing but glanced away, a slight pink creeping into his cheeks. Chikara looked away as well but didn't move a muscle. Green Day's _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ came on and Chikara began to hum. Hiei was still staring out into space so Chikara slipped away and danced by herself. One guy came up to her and started to flirt with her at the end of the song, but Chikara punched him in the stomach and walked away. She went back to the table Koenma had reserved for the group and ordered a root beer. It came a minute later and was half gone in 30 seconds. As Chikara sipped her drink, Hiei silently sat down across from her. Why does he keep following me around! Chikara thought frustrated.

"If I left you alone, then your baka detective brother would never let me hear the end of it," Hiei said simply.

"I told you to keep out of my thoughts!" Chikara snapped, irritated.

"You asked me if I knew what privacy was, which I do. You never told me to keep out of your thoughts, which I won't. You have an interesting mind and its fun to poke through your thoughts," Hiei replied with a smirk. Chikara quickly ran to the dance floor, leaving her half-finished drink and a surprised Hiei sitting at the table. She weaved her way through the crowd, trying to get as far away from the annoying mind reader as possible. Chikara bumped into a guy wearing a forest green shirt and jeans, who looked somewhat familiar. He had short, even, dark brown hair that stood up and green eyes.

"Would you like to dance?" he offered as Britney Spear's _I'll Never Stop Loving You_ came on. Chikara nodded, entranced by the stranger. He pulled her close to him, so her head rested on his chest. Chikara flushed. They danced two songs straight, both of them slow. It was about 11:30 now and Chikara was getting drowsy. The stranger was holding her tighter and tighter and she smelt a faint odor coming from him. It was pleasant and it reminded her of her first sleepover, where she had accidentally sprayed too much perfume and her friend's bedroom retained the scent for a week. Chikara could hardly move; she was so tired. Her body was going limp in the stranger's arms. A menacing smile spread across his face as Chikara didn't move and her eyes shut. What he didn't know, however, was that Chikara was still partly conscious, enough to hear and open her eyes partly. She heard screaming and the song that was playing, Simple Plan's _Welcome to My Life_, stopped. She opened her eyes as much as she could to see that the stranger was growing larger and uglier. Hair grew all over his body and he grew tusks out of his mouth. His green eyes turned into beady black ones and he roared, shaking the ground. Chikara couldn't get up; her body was numb and she felt as though the life had been drained right out of her. The ground shook more violently and the lights hung on the ceiling fell, many of them landing mere inches away from Chikara. Suddenly, a black blur appeared in front of her and picked her up. Chikara had no strength to protest or to say anything for that matter except to moan. She was laid down on the stage where no damage had yet been caused. Somebody propped her up and poured water down her throat and laid a wet towel on her forehead. Deafened by the sound of crashing lights, monstrous roars, frightened screams and the clashing of weapons, she relied on her sight to figure out what was going on. However, Chikara's vision was blurred since she could still only open her eyes a little. She saw flashes of yellow, red, black, blue and brown, and then passed out.

"Is she going to be okay?" A hushed voice asked. Chikara, recognizing Keiko's voice, shifted and groaned, trying to open her eyes and sit up at the same time.

"Yes, she's regaining consciousness and should get her strength back quickly," Chikara heard Botan say and opened her eyes. She was still drowsy but she could at least move her body and open her eyes fully. Everybody was gathered around her on the stage, faces filled with concern. Looking up, she saw Hiei and realized that she had been lying in his lap the whole time. Flushing, she quickly tried to sit up on her own, but didn't have the strength. She collapsed back into Hiei's lap and put up no effort to try and get up again. All the boys, including Hiei, were battered and bruised and had cuts all over their arms and a few gashes on their faces. Yukina was in the middle of healing Kuwabara, who had a huge, stupid grin on his face, but stopped when Chikara came to. Chikara groaned again and Botan gave her a glass of water. She sipped a bit, set it down and tried to get up, falling back again. Hiei shifted so she sat upright and Chikara gave the tiniest smile. Hiei looked away, a slight pink coming to his face again.

"What happened? My head feels like it exploded into thousands of pieces," Chikara moaned.

"Lucky for you, Hiei got you to the stage before that demon _did_ crack your head into a thousand pieces," Yukina said. She got no reply. Chikara was looking at the massive brown lump in the center of the dance floor. Yusuke followed her gaze and grimaced.

"Of all the guys on the floor, you had to choose the demon we were after, huh, sis?" Yusuke smiled, pointing over his shoulder. Chikara felt herself flushing.

"Hey, it's not my fault. I didn't know that he was going to be a demon. It's not like he chose to dance with me on purpose," Chikara retorted. Yusuke suddenly fell quiet and so did the others. They avoided Chikara's curious gaze.

"Did I say something?" Chikara asked innocently.

"No. We shouldn't have had you come, Chikara. Especially if it was going to put you in so much danger," Yusuke replied, shaking his head. Everybody else was staring at the ground.

"What do you mean? I told you, it wasn't my fault that…" Chikara began.

"I know what you said and I wasn't talking about that," Yusuke cut her off sharply.

"After the guys beat the demon, Koenma came and told us that somebody sent it after you. He had gotten a message from a strange figure who told him to surrender you to the demons, before you got attacked. The figure also said that if Koenma didn't hand you over, then the demons would take you by force," Botan explained sadly. Chikara was paralyzed with shock as Botan continued, "That's why that demon was capturing girls for the past few days. The only thing that the demons know about you is that you're around 15-18, like the girls that were captured. But now, they know what you look like, thanks to Yusuke over there, who shouted your name out when you fell limp in the guy's arms," Botan glared at Yusuke, who shrugged.

"Bottom line, they're going to be back for another attempt at capture and you're in serious trouble," Yusuke said, finishing up. He looked at Chikara, who stared at him, her face expressionless. Her eyes darted from Yusuke to Botan to the demon and back.

"So…what you mean to tell me…is that…the demons…" Chikara murmured at Yusuke.

"Is that the demons in Demon World are after you, baka onna!" Hiei snapped out of his quiet mood and glared at Chikara. Chikara, startled by Hiei's sudden reaction, shifted off of Hiei and fell onto the stage. Yukina rushed to Chikara's side and helped her back up as Yusuke began to yell at Hiei. All the noise was making her head hurt, not to mention the news as well.

"Shut up, both of you!" Chikara screamed, covering her ears. Everyone fell silent and tears started to slide down her cheeks, ruining her mascara and eyeliner. Yukina tried to calm her down but Chikara pushed her aside and ran out of Club Nova, out into the forest behind it. Yusuke, Botan, Yukina and Keiko yelled after her to come back while Kuwabara and Kurama ran after her. Hiei sat motionless on the stage, face filled with concern and surprise. Eventually the five still in Club Nova ran after Kuwabara, Kurama and Chikara as well. They caught up with the other two boys, but couldn't find Chikara anywhere. They looked for her till midnight, when they headed back to the Urameshi residence, in hope that Chikara would have returned lock herself up in her room. To their disappointment, Chikara was nowhere to be found and they decided to call it a night. Although one person stayed awake and, at 1 in the morning, slipped out the front door, back to the forest, to look for the girl.

Chikara sat in the tree, crying her heart out. It was mid-December and she was freezing in her halter and mini, but she didn't move. Her thoughts went through her head so fast; she didn't even know she was thinking them. All she knew was she was the target of demons, perhaps all of them in Demon World. Her head spun and dizziness overcame her. She shifted on the tree branch and fell off, clutching her head. Landing in bushes relieved the pain, which Chikara pondered over. She climbed back into the tree and rested on the thickest branch she could find, about 50 feet from the ground. The branch was also covered in leaves, providing her with shelter from snow, which had started falling, and a covering. Chikara huddled into a small ball, trying to keep herself warm. But she still felt the cold stinging her skin no matter how hard she tried to keep warm. She sighed miserably and then angriness flashed through her eyes.

"It's their fault I'm stuck out here!" Chikara shouted to herself, the images of everybody else flashing through her head, "If they had told me the truth in the first place, I wouldn't have gone out and danced with the demon! And if Hiei would just respect my privacy, I wouldn't have danced with the demon still!" She screamed out in frustration and buried her head in her hands.

"And if you didn't have such an interesting mind, I wouldn't poke through it; therefore you wouldn't have danced with the demon. So it's partly your fault, baka onna," A dark shadow appeared on the branch above her and Chikara recognized the taunting voice.

"What are you doing here? Nobody's supposed to know about this spot except me!" Chikara stood up angrily and slipped, crashing down into the bushes below. Hiei jumped down from his branch and landed on his feet by her.

"You know your baka detective brother is worried sick, right?" Hiei asked as Chikara stood up and brushed the leaves off her jacket.

"Who cares? It's his fault I left anyway. Why should I go back after what they put me through?" Hiei stared silently at Chikara, which made her feel nervous and frustrated.

"Will you quit staring? It's annoying!"

"You have a lot of energy for someone who just got drained of their strength," Hiei rebuked. Chikara stared at him.

"The odor you smelt was a strength draining potion hidden in his jean pocket," Hiei shrugged and pulled out a tube with a small amount of purple liquid inside from his pocket. The clearing they stood in suddenly filled with the aroma Chikara had smelled before. She crumpled to her knees while Hiei stood undisturbed.

"Botan gave us an anti-draining potion when we got back to your house from the club," Hiei pulled out another tube, this time filled with a silver powder. He poured a bit over Chikara, but she still didn't get up. "Get up, baka onna! I know that you're invulnerable to the odor right now!" Hiei snarled. Only then did he realize that Chikara was weeping. His face softened.

"Is something wrong, onna?" Hiei asked gently, kneeling next to her. Chikara merely shook her head, sobbing too hard to answer. Hiei, not knowing what else to do, pulled Chikara's hands away from her face.

"Tell me what's wrong now, onna, or I will get your baka brother out here," Hiei stared at her emerald green eyes as he probed through her mind for a clue. All he could see were flashing images: a young woman who looked almost exactly like Chikara, only older; a tombstone, engraved with R.I.P. Carmarilla Urameshi 1973-2004; the tube of strength draining potion and a crying Chikara being held by Yusuke, both younger than they were now. Hiei staggered and fell back on the grass, shocked by the power and emotion in the young girl's mind and thoughts. Hiei stared at the still weeping girl, forming guesses in his mind.

"Carmarilla Urameshi is your kaasan, huh?" he asked gently. Chikara nodded and gulped for air.

"I…thought…I…told…you…to stay…out of…my thoughts!" Chikara gasped, wiping the tears from her face. Hiei looked away, then back at Chikara. Chikara stared at him for a minute then turned away.

"My kaasan was killed by this when I was five," Chikara managed after a second. Hiei met her gaze, which was filled with sadness and anger. "She worked late into the night and was driving home. I was with her because it was Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. Then we decided to go into a small diner. A guy was sitting next to us and we both smelled the potion. But because I was so young, I wasn't affected. My kaasan wasn't so lucky, though. Se went limp and fell into the guy's arms. He threw her against the far wall," Tears ran down Chikara's cheeks as she reminisced the dreadful day, "I remember running to her and falling at her side. She told me that I was in grave danger now that he had found her. Blood was spilling from her mouth as she said that and I was crying and screaming. All the other customers had fled the diner so my kaasan, the guy and I were the only ones there. The guy was walking closer to us, a knife in his hand. He slapped my face and I flew against the wall, then he took the knife and killed my kaasan. He murdered her! I was crying and screaming and I ran to her. The guy still had the knife in his hand and raised it to kill me. Then the police came in. The guy stopped, looked around, then threw a smokescreen grenade and disappeared. The police chalked my kaasan's body and took her away in an ambulance, taking me as well. I remember crying over her the whole way there and then me being interrogated by the police. Yusuke and my tousan came to pick me up a couple minutes later and they were both crying," Tears now streamed down her cheeks as Hiei sat there quietly, thinking how good his life had been compared to hers. After all, his kaasan committed suicide, which didn't exactly impact his life. Her kaasan, though, had been a victim of murder and, by the sound of Chikara's story, a purposely committed murder. Hiei scooted next to the girl and held her in his arms, waiting for her sobs to die down.

"Shh, shh, it's ok now," Hiei said soothingly as Chikara stopped crying, "It's past you now; you have to put it behind you. You aren't so different from me, the Forbidden Child of Makai. Both our kaasans are dead now and we both only have our siblings," Chikara remained trembling in his arms.

"You have a sibling?"

"Yes,"

"Who is it? Do I know them?"

"Yes, you do know her. Yukina is my younger sister, though you must never tell her," Hiei murmured.

"Yukina is your sister? Come to think of it, you two do look alike," Chikara whispered.

"But this is irrelevant. Onna, you need to put your past behind you now. Do you understand? You may still remember it, but you cannot dwell on it forever; you need to move on," Hiei urged.

"I understand. I know I must put it behind me and I will. But you cannot forget things like this so easily," Chikara replied.

"I know. One day, perhaps I could take you to Reikai and see if Koenma can do anything about your kaasan, like perhaps letting you talk to her spirit. But for now, we are all we have in these mixed up worlds. At least we understand each other,"

"Hn,"


	2. Ocean of Energy

Hiei and Chikara sat there for an hour or so and then decided to head back to Chikara's house. They figured Yusuke was probably going crazy right now.

"He's too overprotective! He treats me like I'm five!" Chikara complained as they walked slowly home. Hiei listened quietly as Chikara continued on about Yusuke. Before Chikara knew it, they were walking up the front stairs of the porch to the Urameshi residence. Chikara took out her keys and opened the white door, revealing total darkness inside. She stepped inside, Hiei behind her, and flipped on the lights, showing everybody in their pajamas and crowded around the coffee table.

"Chikara, you're back!" everybody screamed in unison. Hiei and Chikara both flinched at that.

"You're home finally!" Yusuke leapt out from the middle of the crowd. Chikara sidestepped him and her brother ended up rolling down the stairs of the porch and landing face first on the cement walkway.

"Yes, I'm home. That doesn't give you permission to leap out of a crowd and try to hug me," Chikara squatted down next to him. Yusuke said something that was muffled by the walkway. Chikara merely patted his head and went in to lie down on the couch.

"Where have you been, you two? You had us worried sick!" Botan scolded. Hiei leapt onto the window sill, giving Botan no response. Chikara stared up at the ceiling, not bothering to answer.

"Well, are you telling us or not? We've been worried sick about you two!" Botan yelled, frustrated.

"Hey, Hiei, don't you just feel so loved here? We've only been gone a couple hours and they're already worried," Chikara craned her neck to look at Hiei, teasing Botan in a five-year-old voice.

"Hn," was all that Chikara got as a reply. She huffed and back flipped over the couch and headed for the kitchen. Opening the fridge, Chikara pulled out some French bread and butter, took a knife from a cabinet, sliced seven pieces of bread, stuck the loaf back in the fridge and toasted the seven pieces of bread. She took out a plate and loaded the pieces on when they were ready, spread butter on all seven, threw the knife into the sink and leaped over the couch, catching all seven pieces on the plate. She stole the remote out of Botan's hands, smirking at her reaction, and flipped to her favorite channel, where they were showing a horror movie marathon. The last movie had just started; she had missed the other seven movies since she was out at Club Nova or in the park. Giving in, everyone made themselves comfortable as _Curse_ came on. Chikara flipped the light switch off and settled in between Hiei and Yusuke, the plate in her lap. She munched on the French bread slices as the movie went by. By the time the 90 minute movie and the horror marathon was over, Keiko was burying her head in Yusuke's chest, Yukina was wide-eyed and holding Kuwabara and Kurama, unfortunate enough to sit by Botan, was losing oxygen because Botan's grip was so tight. Hiei yawned, obviously not fazed by the movie. Chikara, having seen _Curse_ 10 times or so, gulped down the last of her snack, back flipped over the couch and put the plate in the sink. It was midnight now and everybody decided to call it a night. Chikara was the last to head up to her room so she had to flip off all the lights downstairs. Hiei hadn't moved from his spot since the start of the movie and didn't move now.

"Hey, you know I'm about to shut off all the lights right?"

"Hn."

"And you know that it's time to sleep?"

"Hn."

"Are you coming or not?" Chikara asked, irritated now. No response. "Good night to you too." Chikara huffed and, flipping off the last light, marched upstairs to her room. Hiei watched her go and settled comfortably on the window sill. Chikara flipped the lights on in her room and yawned. There was no point in taking a shower this late, so she changed into a black midriff tank top and a pair of hot pink shorts that ended just above her knee. She flopped on her bed and instantly fell asleep.

"Chikara, come down here!" Yusuke's voice shot through the doors and woke Chikara from her slumber. She opened her door and stumbled down the stairs, rubbing her eyes to wake her up.

"What do you want? It's 7 in the morning on a Saturday. Regular people are still asleep," Chikara moaned.

"We're going to the beach, silly! Get dressed now. Hurry up!" Botan announced.

"The beach at 7 in the morning?" Botan nodded. "Joy to the world," Chikara grumbled as she went back into her room. She locked the door and went into the shower. 20 minutes later, she finished and changed into a black two piece and threw a pink denim jacket and a pink miniskirt over it. Staring into the mirror, she applied black lip gloss, black mascara and jabbed a pair of pink dangles with wolves on them in her ears. She sprayed on some So Pink perfume and, grabbing a black towel and black sun umbrella, slipped on some pink flip-flops and ran out of her room. She slid down the railing of the stairs and landed in front of the hall closet. She pulled out her pink Adidas tote bag and stuffed the towel and umbrella inside. As the others watched in silence, she ran back up the stairs, grabbed her pair of black shades and a pink ribbon for her hair. She fingered the ribbon gently. It had been her mother's favorite ribbon and Chikara guarded it with her life. Chikara also picked up her black digital camera with pink stripes. She left her bangles on her desk and, slipping on the shades and sticking the ribbon in her bag, raced out of her room and down the stairs with much yelling from Yusuke.

"Finally you're done!" Yusuke said as soon as he saw her. She stuck her tongue out at him and slid down the railing again and surveyed the others. Yusuke had on a pair of green swim trunks and a white muscle shirt. Kurama had on red swim trunks and a red t-shirt. Kuwabara had blue swim trunks and a white muscle shirt. Hiei had on black swim trunks and a black muscle shirt. Yukina had baby blue tank top and a pink skirt down to her knees. Keiko had on a white t-shirt and a yellow skirt the same length as Yukina's. Botan had a pink spaghetti strap tank top and a purple skirt that was the same length.

"Let's go!" Botan cheered and everybody raced out the door. Chikara was the last to leave, behind Hiei. The sun blinded her as soon as she stepped out and she covered her eyes.

"Come on!" Botan yelled again.

"Wait a minute. None of us have license! Let's take the car," Chikara smirked. Botan giggled and snapped her fingers. A portal winded up next to her.

"Step on through and we'll be at the beach. No need for a disastrous car accident," Chikara pouted and watched as the others stepped through and went before Hiei. It went dark and Chikara fell unconscious as she fell through the portal.

Chikara groaned and slowly opened her eyes. The blinding sunlight made her shut her eyes immediately. She pushed herself off the ground, her eyes still shut. Slowly, she felt around for her bag. When she got hold of it, she unzipped it and pulled out her shades.

"Ah, much better," she sighed as she slipped them on. She observed her surroundings. Warm sand was underneath and the girls, Kuwabara, Yusuke and Kurama were in their swim suits in the water. Hiei was sitting behind her on his black towel. She spread out her black towel next to his and decided to get a tan. She took off her skirt and jacket, threw them on her bag, rubbed sunscreen on and flopped on her towel on her stomach. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let the sun do its work.

"Hiei, Chikara, come on! We're going inter-tubing!" Kurama's voice broke Chikara's peace.

"No," Chikara said without getting up.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Botan contributed. No answer. "I'll let you go to Club Nova again," Yusuke offered. Chikara lifted her head and glared at Yusuke. He grinned.

"Fine, but only if I get last ride," Yusuke nodded and Chikara stood up and stretched. Only then did she notice Hiei watching her.

"What are you looking at now, baka?" Chikara shot at him. No answer. More staring. "Stop and get on the boat already!" Chikara pointed at the speedboat that Yusuke had rented for inter-tubing.

"Fine, but I'm not going to like it." Hiei got up and walked towards the boat.

"Who cares if you like it or not? We're being forced to do this so let's get it done quickly." Chikara shot back and walked behind him, picking up her bag, towel and sunscreen and stuffing them back inside her bag.

"All aboard!" Botan shouted. Chikara groaned and, in one leap, hopped onto the boat, doing a front flip in midair. She landed and flipped her hair so it was behind her head again. She looked out and everybody was staring at her.

"What's everyone looking at?" Chikara's gaze met each one of their eyes.

"Where'd you learn to do gymnastics like that? That was amazing!" Keiko cheered.

"Yeah, you've never had any gymnastics or dance lessons," Yusuke commented.

"I don't know. I just did it. It was fun, though." Chikara responded and Hiei hopped on board. Everybody else followed.

"Ready, everybody?" Kuwabara asked, sitting behind the wheel. Everybody nodded except Chikara. She stood up and went below deck.

"Where are you going?" Yukina asked.

"To put my stuff away so it doesn't get wet," she stated. Looking around, she tucked her bag underneath the small sofa in front of her. Standing up, she went above deck again and sat down between Hiei and Kurama. When Chikara had sat down, Kuwabara started the motor and the boat moved off the shore and into the water. When they were deep enough, Yusuke and Kurama got up and unraveled the inter tube. They secured it to the boat and inflated it. When it was inflated, they set it down in the water behind the bumper of the boat.

"All right, this inter tube can seat two people at a time. Each ride will get 20 minutes. We'll do everybody first. Then, whoever wants a second ride can get one. Who's going first?" Kurama asked. Keiko immediately got up and Yusuke followed her in, putting on their life jackets. Kurama helped them on either side of the inter tube. Kurama sat back down in his seat and nodded to Kuwabara.

"Here we go!" he announced and started the motor. The boat moved and the people on the boat could hear the shrieks of Keiko and the whoops from Yusuke. Kuwabara turned the boat this way and that and the wind whipped Chikara's hair like crazy. She had taken out her camera when she put away her bag and now prepared it to take pictures. She held it up, set it to motion, and zoomed in on the two inter tubing. When she got a clear shot, she pressed the button and snapped a picture as the inter tube went up on a wave. Keiko's eyes were shut, Yusuke's mouth wide open. Chikara smiled and prepared for another picture. When she had taken two more pictures, she put the camera down and watched the inter tube weave through the ocean. Kuwabara slowed down finally and Kurama got up to pull the inter tube back to the boat. He helped Yusuke out, then Keiko. Yukina and Kuwabara went next. Yusuke drove this time. Again, Chikara snapped three pictures of their wild ride. After 20 minutes, Yusuke slowed to a stop and, this time, Chikara pulled in the inter tube. After Chikara pulled out the stoned Yukina, with many protests and whining from Kuwabara, Kurama and Botan went in. Yusuke and Kuwabara argued for five minutes about who was going to drive before Chikara stepped in and decided. Kuwabara sat in the seat happily and started the engine as a surly Yusuke sat down across from Chikara.

"You just wanted to side with him to make me unhappy, huh?" Yusuke glared at Chikara.

"Who, me? Of course not! Why would I do such a thing?" Chikara mocked and turned her back. She snapped another three pictures as the wind blew through her hair again. Hiei got frustrated and moved to another seat. Chikara smirked at him and turned her attention to the sun. It was high up in the sky; time had passed quickly. Suddenly, Kuwabara stopped. Chikara lurched forward, as did the others. The other girls toppled over each other.

"Hey, do you know how to drive a boat!" Chikara screamed and turned around. Kuwabara turned around in his seat and glared at her.

"Do you want to try driving this thing? It's hard to look at the time while you're driving, you know!"

"That's why you use a dang stopwatch, you baka!" Chikara shot back.

"Then you try driving this dang boat!" Kuwabara stood up and offered her the seat.

"Fine, I will!" Chikara huffed and took the driver's seat. She revved up the boat and grinned. "Let's see what this baby can do!" she yelled. The boat shot off and everybody screamed. Even Hiei looked a little bit frightened. They could hear the screams of Botan and Kurama as the inter tube turned this way and that in the water.

"Wahoo!" Chikara whooped as she turned the wheel. Her hair whipped wildly as ever and spray came from this way and that. She heard the faint beep of the stopwatch going off and slowed the boat to a stop. Chikara turned around in her seat, grinning. Yusuke and Kuwabara were holding onto their seats for dear life, stoned and grimacing. Yukina and Keiko were grasping the base of their seats and were shaking with fear. Hiei was paled and frozen in his seat. Chikara burst out at their expression and stumbled out of the chair.

"You…are not…driving…ever…again," gasped Yusuke as he and Kuwabara struggled to regain balance. Chikara pouted and let Yusuke take the driver's seat.

"Oh, well, it's my turn in the inter tube anyways," shrugged Chikara as she pulled the inter tube in. She stopped to put her digital camera under deck in her bag. Botan and Kurama were grasping onto the handles so tight their knuckles had turned white. With a little urging, they stepped out of the inter tube and Chikara took Botan's place.

"Hiei, it's your turn also," Kurama said and Hiei reluctantly climbed in next to Chikara. Yusuke looked back and Chikara nodded, signaling they were ready. The boat came to life and pulled forth. The inter tube waited a moment and followed it. Chikara whooped again and looked over at Hiei. He was as white as a ghost and he was clutching the handles so tightly his knuckles were white. His black gravity-defying spikes were blown back in the wind and his crimson eyes were shut tight. Chikara laughed and raised one of her hands to brush the hair out of her face. It was her first time inter tubing and she was having a blast. She screamed as they went up on wave after wave and laughed as Hiei shut his eyes more tightly each time. She wiped the spray off her face, only to get hit with more. Her hair was flying everywhere and she couldn't keep spray off her face for a minute. Chikara found enough bravery to let go of both handles and sweep her hair back so she could lay on it with her head. Suddenly the boat stopped and the inter tube went flying forward. Chikara, since both her hands were on her hair, flipped forward and fell out of the inter tube, which was already in midair. Screaming, she landed in the water with so much force, a huge wave formed and swept over the inter tube, Hiei still in. He got caught in the wave and was swept out of the inter tube.

"Are you guys ok?" Chikara heard Kurama's voice in the distance. She swam up to the surface and gasped, wiping her face. She waved in the direction of a white blurry object which she took for the boat. Chikara looked around and saw a black object floating about 10 feet away. She swam toward it and discovered Hiei blacked out in the water. Grabbing hold of him, she swam back in the direction of the boat. Yusuke and Kurama pulled her out of the water and laid out Hiei on the deck. Chikara gasped for air and looked around. Everyone carried worry lines on their faces. She stumbled below deck as Kurama pulled the inter tube in. Locating her bag, she fumbled around inside until she found her towel. She wrapped it around herself and got back on deck. Hiei was coming to and Kurama was tying the inter tube to the boat. Hiei's eyes opened and he jolted. Yukina wrapped his towel around him and he stumbled off the sofa, only to fall back down on it.

"What happened anyway? Why'd you stop so suddenly?" Chikara turned to Yusuke.

"Sorry, guys. Something happened to the brake. It just…stopped," he said sheepishly, then added, "Are you guys ok?" Chikara and Hiei nodded and it fell silent. Kuwabara got up and took the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" Yusuke walked to his side.

"Getting us back to shore, baka. What else did you think I was gonna do? " Kuwabara replied. He started the boat and it revved up. It sped off faster than Chikara had driven it and everyone but Chikara screamed. Chikara whooped instead. The boat stopped as suddenly as it had when Chikara was in the inter tube and everyone lurched forward. Kuwabara started the boat up again and, this time, it drove smoothly. Everyone sighed. A sickening sound broke their moment of peace and the boat rocked. Everyone stood up in alarm.

"We've crashed into a rock!" Kurama shouted. The other girls screamed as Chikara ran to see the damage. The bow was beyond repair and the boat was starting to capsize. She looked toward shore in hopes that she could signal for help. It was no use; they had gone too far out and the shore was a tiny strip of brown in the distance. More and more water came up on deck.

"Jump overboard, everyone!" Kurama shouted and everybody leapt into the water at once. The boat sank quicker as they stared at the massive rock that had caused the damage. It had to be over 7 feet tall, if that was even possible.

"There goes the boat and all that stuff and money," Yusuke groaned. _Stuff…_Chikara gasped.

"My bag! It's still under deck! I have to get it!" Before anyone could say anything, she dove underwater, much to the dismay of Yusuke.

Chikara opened her eyes and was greeted by blue. She turned and looked at the surface. The light barely broke through. _Did I really go that far down? Ugh, have to find my bag. Where is the boat?_ Chikara looked around and spotted the large white boat and swam toward it. _Going through the windshield is my best bet._ Chikara swam underneath the boat and was pleased to find a gaping hole in the windshield, big enough for her to swim through if she was careful of the edges. She kicked her legs and inched her way through. Pain shot through her when she was almost completely inside. She looked back to see a gash on her right thigh. Ignoring the pain, she swam ahead. Chikara saw the stairs that led down under and frantically swam toward them. Her head was getting let and she couldn't hold her breath for much longer. Her black bag was floating around, just inches away from where she had left it. Her hand stretched out and got pulled back. She turned around and saw that the bottom of her swim suit had gotten caught on a piece of wood and prevented her from getting her bag. She tugged furiously but couldn't get it loose. Her lightheadedness was overcoming her and she couldn't take it. Black surrounded her and Chikara fell onto the stairs as the boat sank deeper.

"I'm worried. Shouldn't she be back for air by now?" Kurama questioned. Botan nodded. They were all powerless to help and could only stare at the spot where Chikara dived and hope. Yusuke looked like he was about to blow and Keiko was talking to him, not that it was doing much.

Her blue eyes opened and she started. Looking around, she realized that she was still in the boat under water. _But…I couldn't have survived that. Unless…_ Chikara took in a deep breath and waited. Nothing happened. She let it out.

"Awesome, I can breathe underwater!" she exclaimed excitedly. She swam backwards and unhooked her swim suit, then swam forward again, watching the hook. When she had made it through she grabbed her bag and swam back out.

"I'm glad I closed the bag and that it's waterproof." Chikara sighed and, slinging the bag over her right shoulder, swam through the windshield and headed for the surface. A black shadow caught Chikara's eye and she stopped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow swim by again.

"Who are you?" Chikara shouted and a flash of white sped by her. Three long gashes appeared on her upper let arm and Chikara cried out in agony. The thing turned around and struck again, but Chikara barely dodged by kicking her feet and going backwards. The enemy stopped for a brief moment so Chikara could get a good look and Chikara froze.

"Great white shark," she whispered, "Oh, no." Her eyes darted to her arm and her leg. They were still bleeding and the water was turning red around her. She turned and swam away and the shark pursued, gaining every moment.

"It's no use. You cannot escape, Chikara Urameshi," a mysterious voice echoed around her and she stopped, looking around in the water. The voice continued, "My shark minion will succeed in its mission. Then, one day, soon, you and your powers and gifts will be mine," maniacal laughter filled the water and faded into the distance.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Chikara looked around bewilderedly. A black shadow seen out of the corner of her eye reminded her of her predicament. Chikara twisted around as the shark attacked her from behind. She let out a scream as a new gash appeared on her other arm. Then, as suddenly as it had come, the shark was gone.

"What is taking her so long? She should've come up to breathe by now," fretted Yusuke, "I'm going down to see what's going on."

"No, Yusuke, you mustn't. She can take care of herself," Kurama said, then added under his breath, "At least, I hope so."

Chikara gasped as she avoided the shark again. She was running out of breath and couldn't take much more. Her eyes wandered around, looking for a way to escape the shark. She looked at the surface and swam towards it but the shark cut her off. Frustrated, Chikara tried to swim around the shark from 10 different angles and got cut off each time.

"I have to get back up there! But the stupid shark won't…" Chikara trailed off and looked around. The shark was no where to be seen.

"Where'd it go? It has to be around here somewhere," she mused. She sensed movement behind her and turned. Before she had a chance to dodge, the shark struck and made three new gash marks on her right arm. It also managed to rip Chikara's bag to shreds. Chikara stared horrified as her belongings were scattered about. Some began floating towards the surface and others sank into the depths of the ocean.

"What in the world? This is Chikara's umbrella. What's going on down there?" Yusuke asked as his sister's black umbrella broke through the surface and floated by her towel. Her clothes also floated up.

"What is going on?" Kuwabara yelled.

"How am I supposed to know!" Yusuke responded.

Her digital camera was sinking to the bottom. Chikara quickly swam after it and pulled it close to her. One item down.

"Just have to find the rest of my stuff," muttered Chikara. She looked up and saw her clothes floating to the top. She also saw her umbrella and her towel floating there. Chikara turned to the right and swam after her sunscreen and her shades, catching them and holding them close to her.

"Wait, where's my ribbon?" Chikara looked around frantically. Her mother's prized ribbon. She had to find it. She saw it off in the distance, floating toward the shark's mouth.

"NO!" Chikara panicked. She couldn't let her mother's favorite ribbon and her most prized possession be eaten by a shark. She swam towards it faster than she thought she could swim. When the ribbon was a mere inch away from the shark's mouth, Chikara stretched out as far as she could and seized it by an end. As soon as she touched it, a bright light surrounded her and the ribbon as she pulled it towards her heart. The shark was hit by the light and swam away in fear. The light grew stronger and brighter as it expanded and broke through the surface in a column.

"What in the world is that?" Kurama yelled as a column of light broke through.

"Immense power is at work here," Hiei replied calmly.

"Chikara!" Yusuke yelled.

Chikara felt her body being lifted by the light and gave in to it. Still clutching the ribbon, she floated in the light towards the surface in a little ball. She heard the yells of the others, felt her body break through the surface, and her eyes opened. She gasped and looked around. As soon as she lifted her head, the light column vanished into thin air and she fell. Hiei caught her as she plummeted towards the ocean. The others swam towards them. Yukina checked her pulse and her breathing.

"She's fine, just unconscious. Of course, who wouldn't be after that?" Yusuke sighed in relief. They swam back to shore, where a team of lifeguards met them. They insisted on checking her and putting her in medical care, but Keiko and Botan warded them off.

"She's fine, guards. She just needs some rest at her house. Then she'll be good as new," insisted Keiko. The guards, after 20 minutes, finally gave up and shooed off the gathering crowd.

"Come on, let's get her home," Yusuke said gently and lifted Chikara up onto his back. Everybody else agreed and Botan snapped her fingers. Another portal opened and they stepped through.

A minute later, they arrived in front of the Urameshi residence. Yusuke handed Chikara over to the person to his right, which was Hiei, and produced a key from his pocket. He stuck it in the keyhole, opened the door and switched on the light. Taking his sister back, he laid her down on the sofa gently. Keiko ran upstairs and brought down Chikara's blanket from her room. Propping Chikara's head on a cushion, she laid the blanket carefully over her. Chikara stirred but didn't open her eyes.

"Come on, guys. We've had a long day and Chikara's had a longer one. Let's go upstairs, call it a night and let Chikara rest," suggested Kurama and everyone agreed as they dragged themselves up the stairs.

"Hiei, would you mind watching Chikara? Since, you know, you stay down here during the night," Yukina paused midway up the stairs, since she was the last one, and turned around, eyeing Hiei with concern. Hiei, unable to upset his sister, nodded slightly and Yukina smiled, heading up the stairs once more and flipping the lights off. Hiei watched her until she disappeared into the Urameshi guest room and then turned to Chikara. She was still sleeping, fitfully though. Hiei took his place on the windowsill and looked out the window as the last of the burning sunset disappeared behind the horizon. Darkness took over where it was orange and red in the sky. The stars came out one by one, sparkling slowly but surely. They dotted the sky like grains of salt. The full silver moon caught his eye and he fell into a trance, captivated by the beauty, his eyes closing slowly. A thud behind him alerted him and his eyes opened fully. Hiei turned to see Chikara laying on the floor, tangled in her blanket, her pillow laying a few inches away from her head. Apparently, Chikara's sleep was so fitful that she had rolled off the couch. Hiei got up and picked Chikara up in his arms, placing her gently on the couch. He untangled her from the blanket and spread it over her again. Picking up the pillow, he slid it underneath her head and returned to his windowsill. Before he fell asleep, he turned to look at Chikara, now sleeping peacefully on the couch. He turned his head and drifted off into a tired slumber.

Chikara opened her eyes slowly and sat up right, alert and cautious. She sighed in relief when she realized she was in her own home. Checking the clock on top of the T.V., she groaned. It was 5:30 in the morning. As she started to lie back down, something caught her eye and she sat back up. Hiei was resting peacefully on the windowsill, his face turned towards the window. The way the sun was hitting him, it made him look as though he were glowing. _An angel in black._ Chikara smiled at the thought. _Wait, sun…_

"Dang! Got to record the rise," Chikara whispered to herself. She stumbled off the couch and grabbed her digital camera, which was sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch. Slipping into the pink flip-flops she wore yesterday to the beach, she unlocked the door and noiselessly snuck out, silently closing it behind her. She set her camera to video mode and sat underneath the large cherry blossom tree in the front yard. Holding the camera up, she started to record the radiating sunrise. A smile tugged at her lips and Chikara was too captivated by the sun to resist. As the sun floated higher into the sky, the smile grew bigger on Chikara's lips.

Hiei watched her through the window from where he sat on the windowsill. When she had gone outside, he had waken up at the sound of the door shutting. He watched her smiled. Considering what had happened to her the past two days, it was good to the smile on her face. He didn't turn around when he heard noises behind him. Hiei knew the others were gathered at the top of the stairs, wondering what he was doing. He heard them come down the stairs quietly, felt them gather around the window. He heard their gasps at Chikara outside and smiling, yet he paid them no attention. His focus remained steadfast on Chikara.

She knew that they were there. She could see it out of the corner of her eyes. Her focus switched back to the sunrise. She wouldn't let them know that she knew that they were watching her. It would be fun to torment them about spying on her. When the sun was at the height where she had to raise her camera to capture it, she stopped recording and went inside.

"What are you guys doing? Were you spying on me!" Chikara demanded in mock anger when she went inside. She had turned automatically when she opened the door and caught them off guard, except for Hiei. She had to suppress her laugh when she saw the startled looks on their faces and the awkward positions they were in. They had frozen when she had come in and, by the looks of their positions, they had been trying to make a dash for the sofa.

"No, of course not! Why would we be doing that? We were just…uh…" Kuwabara fibbed and trailed off, trying to think of an excuse. Chikara raised an eyebrow and everybody started stammering.

"We were playing our own version of freeze tag!" Kurama laughed unsurely. A barrage of "Oh yeah!" and "That's right!" met Chikara. Hiei smirked.

"Whatever. I'm getting some breakfast. You can keep up your freaky version of freeze tag," laughed Chikara as she went into the kitchen.

"Um, I think we're all gonna quit since we're getting hungry," Kurama ventured and followed Chikara into the kitchen. The rest followed his example and unfroze. Even Hiei got up and sat down at the kitchen table. Chikara overheard "Nice save," directed towards Kurama. She smiled as she stuck eight waffles into the toaster, took out eight eggs and cracked on in a pan, turned on the stove and took out the package of bacon from the freezer. Yukina took out eight plates from the cupboard and laid them out on the counter. Botan got out eight cups and Keiko got the orange juice from the refrigerator. When the toaster dinged, Yukina loaded a waffle on each plate. Botan delivered the drinks to the table and Keiko, after putting the orange juice away, grabbed syrup and butter and set them down at the table.

"Yukina, catch the egg, ok?" Chikara whispered. Yukina grabbed a plate and backed up. Chikara flipped the egg one last time and launched the egg over her head. She turned to watch Yukina stick out her arm and catch the egg in the middle of the plate. Yukina and Chikara smiled as the boys cheered and asked for an encore. They did that to the other seven eggs and to the bacon as well. When each person had gotten a plate, Chikara sat down between Hiei and Yukina and watched Yusuke and Kuwabara devour their breakfast. Everybody laughed and Chikara and Hiei smirked.

"More please!" Yusuke and Kuwabara held out their finished plates toward Chikara. She sighed and got up, taking the plates to the stove. She was glad that she had left out the bacon, eggs and waffles. Yukina got up to help her and to give an encore performance. _This is going to be a long day…_Chikara thought as Yukina popped two waffles into the toaster and grabbed the two boys' plates, ready to catch the bacon and eggs.


	3. A Mystery Vacation

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to get up! School's started, my teachers are giving me homework already and I've got a lot to do. For the next chapter, I'll try not to make you guys wait so long! Hope you like this!

* * *

After Kuwabara and Yusuke had devoured their thirds and everybody else had their seconds, Chikara cleaned up the kitchen. Everybody rushed out to the living room to watch the boys play video games except Yukina, who stayed behind to help Chikara, and Hiei, who sat on the windowsill and stared out the window. Chikara threw Yukina a spare light blue apron and put a black with pink trim one on. They started doing the dishes. 

"Breakfast was great," Yukina commented. "Where'd you learn to cook like that?"

"Well, my father was a pretty good chef and he taught me since Yusuke didn't want to learn. I also learned a bit from my mother. The rest I picked up recipes from here and there and just tried them out," Chikara explained thoughtfully as she continued to wash the dishes. Silence fell between them as Yukina dried off the dishes and put them away. The sounds of the _Super Smash Bros. Melee_ match between Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke was barely heard between the yells and laughs of the boys and the cheers and laughs of the girls. Chikara smiled on the inside and shook her head. She had played the game with boys so many times that she was used to their yells and laughs. Extremely loud laughter exploded from the living room. Yukina cringed at the sound and looked cautiously over into the living room.

"What could be so funny that they can laugh that loud?" Yukina wondered, looking at Chikara.

"Knowing Yusuke, you probably don't want to know," Chikara replied, not looking up from her dishes. Finally, after about five minutes, the laughter died down and went back to yells and cheers. The doorbell rang and Chikara and Yukina looked up. No one from the living room did the same. Chikara sighed and walked to the door, wiping her hands on her apron on the way.

"Yes, can I help you?" Chikara asked as she opened the door. She saw a man standing with black square glasses in a brown suit.

"Good morning. Is this the Urameshi residence?" the man asked. Chikara nodded. The man smiled.

"Hello, my name's Hitoku Fushiyama. I represent the Sentosa Resort and Day Spa in Singapore. Is Chikara Urameshi home?"

"Yes, this is she," Chikara answered, aware that the video game had paused and all eyes were on her.

"Well, Chikara, this is your lucky day!" Hitoku announced, a goofy smile spreading across his face.

"Oh? How so?" Chikara raised an eyebrow and waited.

"You've just won a free, all expense paid VIP ticket to the Sentosa Resort and Day Spa! And you may bring along your friends as well!" Hitoku held out a red ticket and Chikara took it.

"Thank you, Hitoku," Chikara said and closed the door, inspecting the red ticket. When she looked up, everybody burst into cheers.

"I can't believe you got a VIP ticket! The Sentosa Resort and Day Spa is the best!" Keiko yelled.

"Are you going? Are you taking us with you?" Botan asked excitedly. A silence fell over the room. Chikara shrugged and nodded. The room burst into noise once more.

"Exactly why are you boys so happy about going?" Keiko teased.

"Are you kidding? The Sentosa Resort and Day Spa is the best place to unwind after the past couple bizarre events!" Yusuke and Kuwabara cheered and Kurama nodded. Even Hiei showed his approval by nodding. Chikara sighed and shook her head as the others babbled on about the spa. The doorbell rang again.

"Good morning again, Hitoku. Back so soon?" Chikara asked as she opened the door.

"Yes, well I forgot to mention, when you feel like going, just call my number on the ticket and I can get a plane to take you there in five minutes or so."

"Really? That's great! I'll keep that in mind. Thank you and good bye," replied Chikara.

"Oh, well, it's early in the morning. Would you like to go now?"

"Now? Well, I suppose that would be fine if the others agree," Chikara looked over her shoulder and they nodded.

"All right. Pack your swimsuits everyone. We're going to the Sentosa Resort and Day Spa," Chikara announced. The others let out a big cheer and ran upstairs.

"Great! I'll book a plane to pick everyone up right away! Good bye, Chikara," Hitoku bowed his head and left. Chikara closed the door after him and went up the stairs into her room, locking the door. She changed into her black two piece and grabbed her spare pink Adidas tote bag. She grabbed her digital camera, her pink wallet and her towel, stuffing them in her bag. She also stuffed her black CD player with pink stripes and her pink and black ear pieces into her bag, along with her CD case. Throwing on a pair of pink denim shorts and a pink midriff halter over her swimsuit, she reapplied her water-proof black lip gloss, water-proof black mascara and So Pink perfume. She put water-proof pink streaks in her hair and let them air dry as she fingered her earrings, making sure they were there. Slipping on her black shades, she grabbed her bag, shut her door and ran downstairs. The others were wearing the same outfits as yesterday and Chikara smirked. Chikara slipped into her pink flip-flops and they all ran outside. Hitoku was waiting for them in front of the house.

"Just in time, too. Here's the van that'll take you to the plane," Hitoku announced and pointed up. A large white van pulled in front of them. The door opened and a girl hopped out.

"All aboard," she ushered them in the car and Hitoku waved them farewell. A cell phone rang and Hitoku answered.

"Are they in the car?" a mysterious voice asked.

"Yes and everything is going according to plan," reported Hitoku, his glasses flashing, and he hung up.

The van had four two-seaters, so Yusuke sat with Keiko, Botan with Kurama, Yukina with Kuwabara and Chikara sat with Hiei. The girl got in the passenger seat and the driver started the car. Once they were out of the neighborhood, the girl in the passenger seat turned around.

"Which is Chikara Urameshi?" Chikara raised her hand. The girl smiled, "Ohayo, Chikara. My name's Shintai."

"Nice to meet you, Shintai. How long will our flight be?"

"You'll be on the plane for seven hours."

"Wow, that long?" Shintai nodded and Chikara sighed. The car fell silent. Shintai turned towards the driver and began speaking rapidly in Chinese. The driver said something back and Shintai retorted in an angry voice. Chikara looked taken back and said something in Chinese. Shintai and everybody in the car looked at her surprise. Even the driver glanced at the rearview mirror before averting his gaze back at the road.

"Where'd you learn to speak Chinese?" Yusuke asked, surprise on his face. Chikara hesitated and glanced at Hiei for a second. Hiei understood the message and nodded slightly to show that he got it.

"It doesn't matter where she learned it. If she knows it, she knows it. No helping that now," Hiei said coldly. The others dropped the matter and leaned back in their seats. Chikara shot a thank you glance at Hiei, who looked out the window. Chikara rolled her eyes and began chatting leisurely with Shintai in Chinese.

About 15 minutes, the van pulled up to the airport. Shintai and the gang got out of the van, but the driver stayed inside.

"Don't worry, he's making sure nothing happens to the car," Shintai told everybody. They unloaded their luggage and walked into the looming airport.

"Is everyone's luggage carry-on luggage?" Shintai asked. Everyone nodded and Shintai led them to the baggage check area. They placed their bags in the tubs and let them be x-rayed while they went through the metal detector. When everyone had cleared and taken their bags, Shintai led them to gate A-5.

"Here we are, gate A-5. This is your gate to Singapore," Shintai said, "Here are your boarding passes," she handed them to Chikara, "and I hope you all have a nice, relaxing trip in Singapore. Good bye, everyone. I'll pick you all up when you return." The gang bid farewell to Shintai and found seats to wait in.

"Let's see, it's 10:30 AM and our flight doesn't board till 10:50 AM. So we have 20 minutes of spare time. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to check out the gift shops," Chikara announced, taking her wallet out of her bag and stuffing it in her shorts' back pocket. The girls agreed and stood up, checking that they had their money. The boys scoffed and remained sitting. There was a gift shop right next to their gate so the girls checked that out first. Once they got it, they spread out in different directions, examining everything that caught their eye. Chikara wandered over to a section where they were selling wood puzzles. She looked at each one of them and picked up a gray wolf one. Holding that under her arm, she combed through the rest of the store. Paying for the wolf wood puzzle, she went back to where the boys were sitting.

"Wow, you're already done?" Kuwabara asked in shock. No answer. Chikara opened her bag and slid the puzzle in so that it wouldn't break.

"Great, more wolves in your room," Yusuke said sarcastically. Chikara glared at him as she stood up.

"Well, as long as you don't ever enter my room, you won't have to see all my wolves, will you?" she replied coldly before heading off to a book store near the next gate.

"Wow, Urameshi, your sister is like three-eyes over there," Kuwabara commented, pointing at Hiei. Hiei snarled and Kuwabara directed his gaze back to Yusuke, "See what I mean?"

Chikara browsed through the manga section of the book store and picked a couple out. _One Piece_ by Eiichiro Oda, Volumes 200-205. She already owned the other 199 volumes. Stopping at the fantasy section, she picked out volume two of _The Firebringer Trilogy, Dark Moon_ by Meredith Ann Pierce. Volume one, _The Birth of the Firebringer, _she already read and owned. She paid at the cashier's and left.

"Gosh, more _One Piece_? Don't you have enough?" Yusuke asked, exasperated.

"Hey, _One Piece_ is awesome. It's got lots of action," Chikara smirked.

"I know, I know, 'Not to mention drama and fantasy.' Gosh, change the tune already," Yusuke sighed, "OW! What was that for, Chikara?" Chikara smirked, "Just because I felt like it," Yusuke grumbled and rubbed his cheek. Botan, Yukina and Keiko came out with two bags each and set them down.

"Airports make great malls," Botan giggled, "Dude, what happened to you? Keiko was with us the entire time," she continued, pointing at the red handprint.

"Chikara's what happened. She's got a short temper," laughed Kuwabara. _SMACK!_ "OW!" Kuwabara screamed, holding his hand to the bump on the back of his head. Kurama looked amused, the girls stunned.

"You asked for it," Chikara said.

"Oh, Kazuma! Here, let me heal that for you. Then I'll do you, Yusuke," Yukina exclaimed, stepping towards Kuwabara.

"Thank you, Yukina," Kuwabara replied stupidly, lowering his head towards Yukina. Chikara sensed Hiei's anger flaring and smirked. In a flash, Chikara's right hand was around both Yukina's wrists, an inch from Kuwabara's head.

"What are you doing?" Chikara hissed, "There are people here!" She gave Yukina back her hands and Yukina gasped.

"Oh, that's right. My mistake. Sorry, Kuwabara, Yusuke, I'll have to do it later," Yusuke shrugged and Kuwabara nodded, disappointment on his face. _There, your sister isn't going to heal Kuwabara for a while. Calm down, now, _Chikara thought to Hiei. Hiei gave Chikara what she thought was a glance of thanks, but she wasn't quite sure. Chikara looked at the time. 10:45. 15 more minutes. Chikara sighed and took out _Dark Moon_. She hadn't even opened the book when she got interrupted.

"Excuse me; are you the party of Chikara Urameshi to Singapore?" A woman came up to them and asked.

"That would be us. Can I help you?" Chikara answered, putting her book away.

"I'm not sure if Hitoku clarified this, but you get your own plane to Singapore and we're ready to take off,"

"Own plane to Singapore? Well, ok then, I think we're all ready to go," Chikara looked over her shoulder and everybody nodded.

"Great, follow me please," the woman left and the others picked up their stuff and followed her to the gate. The woman showed the gatekeepers a pass and Chikara handed their tickets to him. He gave back their boarding passes and let them through.

Everybody ran for seats as soon as they got on board. Each row consisted of three seats and the plane was large enough that everybody was able to have a window seat. All the boys sat on the left side while the girls sat on the right. Kurama had sat across from Botan in the front, Yusuke sat across from Keiko in the second to last row and Kuwabara sat across from Yukina in the back. Chikara sat in the middle row, across the aisle from Hiei. The woman, making sure they all were seated, bid them farewell and left. Her cell phone rang and she answered.

"Are they on board?" the same mysterious voice Hitoku talked to asked.

"Everything is going according to plan," she answered and hung up, leaving the boarding terminal.

"All right passengers, this is your pilot speaking. Fasten your seat belts; we will take off in two minutes. Please shut off all electronic devices and put your lunch trays and seatbacks in their upright positions. Thank you," a voice blared over the intercom. They all buckled their seatbelts and felt and heard the engines start up and rumble. Chikara looked out the window just in time to see them lift off the ground. The cars and houses and airport continued to shrink into black dots of nothing until all Chikara could see were the whites of the misty clouds. All around her she heard senseless chatter and babbles. She tuned them out and watched the misty clouds pass by beneath them. She sighed and her eyes fluttered, the noise drifting away. Her eyes opened again and she looked around, shaking off her sleepiness. The stewardess had just started passing out snacks and refreshments. Chikara ordered a root beer and a bag of sour cream and onion chips and began eating them. The pilot's voice came over the intercom again.

"Passengers, we are now safely in the air and you are allowed to get out of your seats. If you remain sitting, please keep your seatbelts fastened. You may now use portable electronic devices, with the exception of TVs and radios." Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and stood up to stretch. Chikara pushed all the armrests in her row of seat up and did a hurdler's stretch on both legs. Then she stretched both her arms and sighed. Yusuke had moved over into Keiko's row right behind Chikara and they started talking nonstop. Chikara groaned and plugged her ears. She had a better idea and reached under her seat for her bag. She grabbed her CD player and CDs and stuck the ear pieces into her ears. She chose a Simple Plan CD and skipped to _Welcome to My Life_. Leaning back, she closed her eyes as the music blared into her ears. Still Keiko and Yusuke's conversation pierced through. Chikara groaned looked around at what the others were doing. Botan had moved back and was busily chatting with Yukina. Kurama was reading a textbook and Kuwabara had fallen asleep. Hiei was staring out window. Chikara turned and stared out her own window.

"Hey sister, what are you doing?" Yusuke and Keiko had slid into her row.

"I _was_ enjoying a Simple Plan CD. What do you want, Yusuke?" Chikara peered over her shades to look at Yusuke.

"You want to play poker?" Yusuke grinned and held up a deck of cards.

"No, get out of my row," grunted Chikara and turned her attention back to the window.

"Aw, come on! Play a couple games with us!" Yusuke whined.

"Fine, I'll play with you! Just stop whining!" Chikara fumed and turned around, turning her CD player off. Yusuke nodded and turned his attention to the rest of the plane.

"Who wants to play poker?" Yusuke yelled. Everyone agreed, even Hiei. They all gathered into the row in front and behind Chikara's row. Chikara put down the lunch tray of the middle seat and Yusuke dealt the cards out.

"Ok, everyone, listen up," Yusuke said, "Whoever loses has to…do a dare set by the person who won!" Everyone nodded in agreement and the game began.

Chikara groaned. She had lost _again_, for the fifth time in a row. She set down her hand and awaited her punishment.

"Ok, Chikara, this is gonna be fun," Kuwabara chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "I dare you…to…chug down five cans of root beer right now!" Chikara shrugged and nodded. Kuwabara waved the stewardess over and handed Chikara five cans of root beers.

"Get to it," Kuwabara challenged. Chikara opened the first can, lifted her head and let the soda pour into her mouth. She swallowed it all down and opened another can and chugged it down.

_The last can. Just one more can…_Chikara thought as she reached for the final root beer. She felt nauseous and dizzy. She popped open the last can and tipped her head, putting the can to her mouth. The cold fluid flooded into her mouth and she began to see spots. Nevertheless, she continued to chug down the can. She set down the empty can and burped.

"There, five cans of root beer chugged. Happy?" Chikara shot at Kuwabara.

"Dude, five cans of root beer! You're an animal!" Kuwabara gasped.

"How do you feel, Chikara?" Yukina leaned over the back of the seat she was in.

"I'm fine. Don't worry," Chikara assured.

"Kazuma! How could you make her drink all that?" Yukina scolded Kuwabara.

"Sorry, Yukina, sorry," Kuwabara apologized sheepishly.

"I think we should wrap up poker now," Kurama suggested and the others murmured their agreement, heading back to their rows. Chikara turned her head so she was staring out the window. She began to feel nauseous, leaned her head back and blacked out.

"Passengers, please buckle up. We are preparing to land," the pilot's voice came on the intercom again and woke Chikara up. Dizzily, Chikara put her CD player and her CDs away and stared out the window. They felt the plane descending slowly and Chikara saw the white puffs of clouds go by. The light blue sky broke through the white and beneath them laid Dogo Day Spa. The pilot slowly brought the jet down in front of the building.

"You may unfasten you seatbelts now. Have a nice day," the pilot's voice came over the intercom again and everybody grabbed their bags and ran off the plane. In front of the building, a young man in a robe was waiting for them.

"Good morning everyone! Welcome to the Sentosa Resort and Day Spa! You must be the VIP party of Chikara Urameshi," the man greeted them warmly.

"Yes, we are. I am Chikara Urameshi," Chikara stepped out and introduced herself.

"Good morning, Chikara. I am Masaka, owner of this spa and resort. Please, follow me inside the building and we can begin your relaxation. Or perhaps your group would enjoy a relaxing walk before the treatment," the man offered. Chikara looked at the others and they nodded. The man disappeared behind the building and the others followed.

From where they stood, the trail winded up through hill behind the spa, through a forest. The sweet scent of flowers lingered in the air and the crisp wind blew threw the trail, stirring the trees and leaves.

"Anytime you want to go into the bath, just head back down this trail and call for me," the man said and went through the back door into the building. Chikara nodded her thanks and took a step forwards, then turned to face the group.

"Well, are you guys just going to stand there or are you going to take this hike?" she asked. The others nodded and followed her down the trail.

"Wow, this is so amazing," Yukina sighed, breathing deep.

"Isn't it so romantic?" Kuwabara gushed at Yukina. She smiled back at him. Chikara felt Hiei's anger flare again.

"Hey, Yukina, no one can see us now. You can go ahead and work your magic on the two guys I slapped," Chikara said, just to torture Hiei. She smirked when she felt Hiei's anger flare even more when Yukina began to heal Kuwabara. After she was done with Kuwabara and worked on Yusuke.

"There that should do it," Yukina said, taking her hand off of Yusuke's cheek.

"Thanks, Yukina. It feels a lot better," Yusuke said, rubbing his cheek.

"Don't get too cocky or I'm gonna put you in a world of hurt again," Chikara said simply, not stopping or turning around. Yusuke made a face and Chikara smirked, seeing it from the corner of her eye.

"I wonder how long the trail is," Botan sighed, staring at the seemingly endless path.

"It's almost over. There's a spot of light ahead and I think that's the end," Chikara answered, pointing ahead. Botan and the others squinted.

"I don't see it," Keiko commented.

"I think you're the only one who can see it, Chikara," Kurama said, "Hiei, what about you? Can you see it?"

"Hn,"

"Take that as an no, Kurama," Chikara said, smirking. It was a bit weird to her that only she could see it, but that thought didn't linger in her mind too long. No sooner had the group dropped the topic, they came to the end of the trail, on the top of hill. Chikara caught her breath, as did the other girls. The entire city was visible from this hill. Lights were flashing, people were shouting, cars starting. All these noises seemed to fade away into the slowly reddening sky.

"Can we go back now?" Hiei sighed and shattered the magic moment of peace. Yukina, Botan and Keiko looked annoyed and the boys started to turn back. Chikara, after one more glance, turned and caught up to the others.

"Masaka, are you here? We're done with the hike!" Chikara called out from the doorway. Her yells echoed in the strangely empty building.

"That's weird. Nobody's here," Chikara muttered.

"Sorry, Chikara," Masaka appeared out of nowhere and startled the group, "I was upstairs, preparing your bath, and did not hear your calls,"

"No worries," Chikara said simply.

"Well, let's go up to the bath, shall we?" Masaka led them upstairs and through the first door on the right.

"Here we are," he announced and let the others take a look around. Everyone gasped. The water was clear as the sky and the bath was big enough to hold all eight of them.

"Go right ahead. The whole spa is rented out to this party the entire day. Oh, and since you came here so late, you will be staying until 10:10 AM tomorrow," Masaka informed them. They all cheered and Masaka left them to their relaxation.

Everybody had already worn their swimsuits, so they shed their extra clothing and slid into the bath. Chikara set her bag down by her spot. As soon as they got in, they sighed in unison.

"This is so relaxing," Keiko sighed and everyone murmured in agreement. Everyone's stress seemed to linger in midair before it disappeared. Chikara sank down even farther, so she was practically floating in the water. She pushed herself back up and splashed her face. It made her skin tingle for a split second.

"Hey, who wants to play some water volleyball?" Yusuke asked, pulling out a beach ball from his bag. Everyone agreed and got into teams. The water even made Hiei join in. They settled with girls against boys, with girls serving and first to 15 points won. Yusuke produced a foldable volleyball net from his bag and they spread it across the bath. Everyone waded to their own sides and Yukina threw Chikara the ball.

"You serve, Chikara," Yukina said as she got into her position in front of Chikara. Chikara nodded and readied for her serve. She threw the ball up and smacked it to Kuwabara. He dove for it and barely managed to bump it up. Yusuke leaped from behind him to spike the ball. Keiko set the ball and Botan spiked it back over. Kurama and Yusuke both ran for ball and collided. The ball bounced off their heads and touched the water.

"Yes! Our point!" the girls cheered and gave each other high fives. Chikara served the ball again and all the boys ran for it. They ended tripping over each other and the girls scored again. Chikara served again and, this time, Hiei managed to return it with a bump. It sailed towards Chikara and she jumped for it. Managing to spike it over back to Hiei, she landed on her feet with a splash and got up just as Hiei returned the ball. She bumped it back over and Yusuke returned it with a spike. Yukina tried to set it but it went over her head. Chikara dove for it and bumped it high. It was high enough for Yukina to turn around and bump it over the net and score a point.

"Game point! We win, 15 to 10!" Keiko and Botan cheered 15 minutes later as Chikara's spike landed in the water, causing the boys to collide head first. Chikara got up from the water, her hair plastered to her face and body. She pushed it back and smiled. The girls crowded around her and cheered.

"All right, all right, you girls win," Yusuke sighed.

"Hey, Chikara, how did you learn to play like that?" Kurama asked as they put away the net and ball.

"I was on my middle school volleyball team, both seventh and eighth grade. I also got nominated Best Player both years. Got the trophies and awards in my room," Chikara shrugged.

"It's true. She also took volleyball courses over both summers. Got Best Player awards and trophies in those too," Yusuke added as he waded over.

"Dang, so is volleyball, like, your favorite sport or something?" Kuwabara stumbled over with Yukina.

"Yes, but I also like basketball, tennis and soccer. And I do gymnastics from time to time," Chikara replied.

"So, basically, you're a sports girl," Yukina put in. Chikara nodded.

"That's pretty impressive." Botan commented, "With such athletics, you could be a really good addition to Team Urameshi. Maybe…uh…I mean…uh…" Botan widened her eyes and stammered. Chikara smirked.

"It's okay. She already knows about Team Urameshi and all that," replied Yusuke. Botan stared at him and he widened his eyes and put up his hands, "Hey, I didn't tell her if that's what you're thinking. She figured it out herself somehow."

"How'd you figure it out?" Keiko turned to Chikara.

"Please, like I wouldn't find out sooner or later. Yusuke should've known I would find out eventually. But I guess he underestimated his sister, huh, Yusuke?" Yusuke mumbled something beneath his breath and stared at his hands. Chikara smirked again.

"Well then, I can recommend you to Koenma. Team Urameshi could do with a power like yours. What do you say?" Botan offered. Chikara opened her mouth to answer, but a knock interrupted her.

"Excuse me, Chikara?" Masaka's voice sounded from the hallway.

"Come in, Masaka," Chikara called out. The door opened and Masaka's head popped in.

"If you're all done with the bath, there are employees waiting in another room to give you your massages, and hair washing and facials for the girls,"

They all murmured in excitement and stepped out of the bath, putting on the navy blue robes that were placed on hooks near the bath and picking up their stuff. They followed Masaka down the hallway and entered a room on their left. Eight black haired girls standing next to eight massage beds met them. Chikara let out a strangled cry. She didn't see eight girls, but instead saw eight brown demons with three horns on their heads, much like the demon the boys had beaten at Club Nova. The others turned to her, startled.

"Is something wrong, Chikara?" Yukina asked, taking a step towards her. Chikara blinked and shook her head, then looked again. Eight girls looking strangely at her.

"N-nothing, it's nothing. Don't worry, I'm fine," Chikara stammered then followed the others and sat down at a bed. _It's probably nothing, just the root beers I drank acting up. There's nothing going on here,_ Chikara thought nervously as she lied down on her stomach on the bed. Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that something strange was going on, that something wasn't right. She closed her eyes to clear her mind and took a deep breath. _After all, I'm here to relax, right? I shouldn't be worrying about demons right now, during my massage,_ Chikara sighed and smiled a little. She settled comfortably on the bed and surveyed her surroundings. Four beds were on the right side of the room and four on the left. The girls had taken the beds on the right and the boys occupied the left beds.

"I-I don't understand what you're trying to say," Yukina's voice made Chikara raise her head. Yukina was sitting on the bed looking worried while her masseuse stood by, furiously making gestures with her hands and speaking rapidly in Chinese.

"She wants to know if you want your hair washed and, if you do, if you want it washed first or if you want your massage first," Chikara translated calmly, sitting up on her bed.

"Oh, well, I guess I'll wash my hair first," Yukina said, looking relieved.

"What about you guys?" Chikara asked, looking at Botan and Keiko.

"Same thing," they said in unison. Chikara translated to the four masseuses as well as hers. They nodded and moved out of the room.

"Get off the beds," Chikara said, sliding off hers. Obediently, the girls slid off their beds and the boys got up as well, confusion in their eyes.

"Not you boys. I'm talking to the girls. Unless you want your hair washed as well," Chikara said, amused. The boys sat down immediately and the girls laughed. Chikara smirked and turned to door, hearing it open. The four girls that had left entered, wheeling new beds with washing basins attached to them. Yukina, Botan and Chikara moved the old beds so the masseuses could replace them. The four girls lay on their backs on the beds and waited, their hair already sprawled in the sink. Chikara closed her eyes and listened to the water running and the thumps of the boys' massages. She felt warm water and a pair of hands running expertly her hair. The water turned off and Chikara felt shampoo being applied. The pair of hands pulled at her hair, rubbing the shampoo in deep. Chikara felt her body move up and down on the bed, pulled by the tugging. The water turned back on and felt one hand running through her hair, making sure all the shampoo was gone. The water stopped and conditioner was applied. Chikara sighed, settling comfortably on the strange bed, and let her mind wander off.

He watched her as he lied on his belly on the uncomfortable bed. She seemed to be asleep, but he knew she wasn't. She was straight across the room from him. How could he not watch her? Yet, it wasn't just because she was across from him. He could have averted his eyes and watched somebody or something else or could've shut his eyes, but he chose to keep his eyes on her. Something about her enchanted him. Was it the way that could just open her mind to everything so easily or the fact that she was so gifted, so talented? Maybe the way that she was so cold and distant, yet so near and warm? Or because, when you looked at her, you saw nothing of her personality? He had no clue anymore. It was just _her_ that captivated him, interested him. He sighed and was unaware that his masseuse was working on him. All the sights and sounds around him faded away. Only she was there, without her masseuse. He blinked and everything appeared again. All the sounds hit him and he winced slightly. He closed his eyes. _No! I will not lose myself to her! She's Yusuke's younger sister. I can and will resist her!_ He glanced over at Yusuke, who had zoned out during his massage. His masseuse was still going though, oblivious that her client was asleep. He glanced once more at Chikara and closed his eyes, trying to rid her from his thoughts.

Chikara opened her eyes. A towel had been wrapped around her hair and the end had been piled on top of her head. She got up and stretched her back and legs, careful of the burden on her head. She noticed she was the last one done. Yukina's masseuse said something to her and Yukina glanced over at Chikara.

"She says get off the bed. She and the other masseuses are gonna swap the beds again for our massages," Chikara explained. The other girls obediently got off and pushed the beds off to the side. Chikara laughed silently when she saw her brother zoned out. Their masseuses rolled in the original beds and the girls lay down on them on their stomachs. The masseuses began their work on the girls. Chikara sighed and closed her eyes, feeling her muscles loosen. Her masseuse's hands worked nimbly on her back. She was glad for this relaxation. The horrible events of days past were zooming through her mind: a demon attack, a shark attack, finding out that demons were after her. And what was with that mysterious voice she heard when she was having her showdown with the shark? It had mentioned her having powers and, as far as she was concerned, she had none. Her mind flitted back to when she was caught in the boat. She had been able to breathe underwater. Was that the mysterious powers the voice was talking about? It didn't seem like such a big deal. If that was all he wanted, then he could have it. But what if he wasn't talking about _just_ the underwater breathing? What if she had other powers that she wasn't aware? Like when she first came into this room and saw demons and not girls? Or on the trail, when she was the only one who could see the end? But neither seemed important. Maybe she should ask this Koenma. But she had no clue where to find him! Yusuke also had connections with him, as did everyone else that she had brought along on this trip. She knew Yusuke often kept secrets from her, but she didn't think that he would know anything about her powers…would he? Chikara groaned inwardly. All this was making her head hurt._ Ok, Chikara, calm down. Forget about all this. You're here to relax. No demon is gonna suspect you're in Singapore…will they? No! They won't! You're perfectly safe! No demon attack is gonna happen this time!_ Chikara told herself. She sighed again, letting the massage take her away. She slipped in and out of consciousness.

Keiko screamed and Chikara jolted, opening her eyes. She was pushed back down by a pair of hands. She looked up and saw her masseuse grinning. Looking around, she noticed that the other masseuses had done the same thing to the others and that Yusuke was awake and alert. Chikara struggled to get free but her masseuse held her fast. Chikara gasped as her masseuse began to change. Her skin became brown, her eyes yellow, her nails turned to claws and her hands grew larger. Her black hair became shorter and surrounded her face like a lion's mane. Three ivory white horns sprouted from her forehead. All the other masseuses had gone through the same transformation. Yukina, Botan and Keiko let out a deafening shriek in unison and their masseuses let go, covering their ears and stumbling backwards. Chikara winced then saw what had happened. She omitted a louder, higher shriek than the three girls combined and all the boys' masseuses and hers backed off. She got her legs up on her bed and, using it to push herself up and out, kicked the demon that held her down square in the chest. The demon howled, holding the spot Chikara had kicked her, and stumbled backwards, over a washing bed that had been pushed away. Landing light as a feather on the ground, Chikara turned to face the other three demons that had held down the other girls. Chikara made a mental note that Yukina, Keiko and Botan were standing huddled in a corner, and then charged, her fist up. She performed a perfect uppercut on the demon who she thought held down Yukina and spun around, hearing a thump behind her. Hiei had his sword in front of his face and his demon fell to the ground, a long gash down its chest. He turned to face her and his face turned to shock then back to stone.

"Watch out!" he yelled and Chikara turned her head in time to see Keiko's demon up in the air, claws ready to strike. The claws made impact and Chikara felt her robe ripping. She was flung by the force of the strike and crashed into Hiei. His sword, not fully down yet, cut her upper right arm as she slammed him against a wall and collapsed in his lap. Blood rushed freely from the gashes on her back and came out in a stream from her arm. Lightheaded, she got up weakly. Hiei got up a little bit after her, dazed by the impact.

"Chikara!" Yusuke cried out and rushed over to them, leaving his demon dead on the floor by his Spirit Gun. Chikara stumbled into Yusuke's arms.

"Are you ok?" Yusuke asked gently, careful to avoid her wounds. Receiving no answer, he tilted her head so he could see her face. She had been knocked out cold or she was dead; he couldn't really tell.

"Yukina, come over here and try to heal her wounds! She's losing blood fast!" Yusuke called out to the ice apparition. Yukina rushed over and took Chikara from his arms. She placed Chikara's head in her lap, exposing all the places she had wounds.

"Oh my, these are really deep," Yukina murmured, pointing to the cuts on Chikara's back.

"Can you try and stop the blood and maybe heal it a bit?" Yusuke asked worriedly. Yukina nodded and Yusuke sighed in relief.

"Go help Kazuma and Kurama and Hiei with the rest of the demons. I can take care of this," Yukina reassured Yusuke, leaving hesitantly. She turned back to the wounds and placed her hands over them. A bluish glow came from her hands and the blood began to come out less and less. She moved her right hand to the cut on Chikara's arm and let her powers do their work.

"That should do it," murmured Yukina, lifting her hands to inspect the wounds. They had healed quite well, although Chikara would have the scars for at least three weeks. The main thing was she did what she could do and it covered what Yusuke wanted her to do: she had stopped the blood flow from the wounds and she had healed the scars so they weren't that deep. Chikara shifted and groaned. Her emerald green eyes fluttered open and they scanned her surroundings. Chikara pushed herself upright so she was sitting on her legs.

"What happened?" Chikara groaned, rubbing her head. Before Yukina had a chance to answer, Yusuke flew by and landed a few feet to their right. Yukina and Chikara ran over to him.

"Yusuke, are you ok?" Yukina asked, bending over him. Yusuke moaned and shifted.

"Hold still!" Chikara scolded softly and Yusuke remained still. Yukina brushed her fingers lightly and gently over Yusuke's left arm. He winced when she touched the middle of his forearm.

"It's broken," Yukina said softly. Chikara stared her brother, then into Yukina's crimson eyes.

"He'll be ok, Chikara. I promise he will. I'll make sure the bone will heal right and I'll speed up the recovery," assured Yukina, "Go fight the very last demon, like you should, and I'll do what I need to do," Chikara nodded and stood up. With a determined glance at Yusuke, she charged out at the demon that had hurt her brother.

Yukina watched as the spirit detective's younger sister delivered harsh, fast blows to the demon. Warm tears stung her eyes but she blinked them back. Grief lodged itself in her throat and she tried to bite it back. It came out as a small whimper. Yusuke stirred in her lap. She looked at him and sighed. Chikara was so lucky; she had an older brother that loved her and she loved him back. They protected one another and had fun together. All she knew of her twin was that he was a skilled martial artist and that he was a fire demon. And that he was the Forbidden Child of Makai, thrown over the edge of Koorime into the desolate plains of Makai. She had no memories of him to lead in her search of him, no possessions he had that she knew off. Yusuke moaned again and brought Yukina back. She had a job to do and it wasn't worrying about her twin. Yukina put her hand over the broken bone, her other hand making sure the bone was straight. A bluish glow came from her hand and she concentrated her power on the bone. She had never mended a broken bone, so she was nervous if she could do it or not. But Chikara trusted her enough to leave her brother's side when she should've stayed with him. Yukina wasn't about to let her down.

Chikara tallied the score: she was the only person standing, besides Botan and Keiko, who were too chicken to fight, and there were two demons left. They charged for her at the same time. Chikara, anticipating it, jumped behind them and swung her leg in midair. It made contact with the backs of their necks and they collapsed the ground, stunned. She landed on the ground and fell to her knees, breathing hard. She had seen the wounds and knew that a lot of blood had been lost. That move was not the best one to do, since it took so much out of her, but it was the only move that she was sure would knock them both down. A crash sounded from behind her. She heard wood splitting and a loud, fierce roar.

"Oh come on, haven't they had enough?" she muttered and craned her neck. Letting out a startled gasp, she gathered enough energy to stumble back to where the others were. A demon, identical to the ones they had just fought, but three times larger than all of them combined, crouched at the door. It cackled and stood up to its full height. The wooden floor couldn't support him any longer and broke beneath him. But he was still so huge that his head went through the roof. Chikara heard the other girls scream and could only stare in despair at the new foe. How could she hope to defeat that single handed? The demon cackled again.

"Chikara, you may as well just come with me and give your powers to my leader. You aren't using them anyways; they're a waste on you. My leader would make excellent use of them," the demon bellowed.

"What powers!" cried Chikara, exasperated, "What are you talking about? I have no powers! Whatever you are looking for inside me is obviously not there! So leave me and the others alone!"

"Ah, so you have not discovered your powers yet. That means that they are fresh. My boss will be pleased when I rip them from your very soul!" he laughed and reached for her. Chikara struggled in his grasp, but couldn't break free.

"Leave the girl alone," Hiei's weak voice startled Chikara. She thought that she'd knocked him out when she crashed into him. She turned and saw him standing, his sword in one hand, the other against the wall for support.

"Catch!" Hiei yelled and threw his sword at her. It spun and Chikara, managing to free her right arm, caught its hilt. With a defiant cry, she drove the blade through the demon's wrist and clung on to the hilt. The demon let out a loud roar of agony and released Chikara. She dangled above the dismantled building, clinging to the hilt of the sword that was still lodged in the demon's wrist. He swung his arm and the blade slid loose. Chikara went flying and hit a supporting beam. She fell down about 10 feet, to her guess, and hit the wooden floor hard on her back, the sword clanging besides her. She winced at the jabbing pain from the three gashes on her back. The ceiling began to swirl about and all the sounds became blended together. Gradually, the ceiling faded from her sight and all the noises became nothing. Chikara blacked out.


	4. The Party Of A Lifetime

**Author's Note**

Hey everyone! This story is based on my birthday party. There is actually another part that includes a birthday party. It goes out to my friend. It won't be until a little later though. Um, there's really nothing much to say. Oh, thanks to Siew Lee for his glossary. And, also, since it's based on my birthday party, I'm having some friends included in here. Only a few of what were actually at my party though. None of the boys are included, sorry guys. Just a few of the girls are gonna be in here, ones that I can actually contact and know that I write this story. I am going to introduce some temporary guy characters in this part, though. Just using an idea that my friend gave me…

**-Rini**

"Dang it! Get up!" Hiei yelled weakly. Chikara lay still on the floor. Masaka's cackle echoed around him.

"I expected her to actually use her powers against me! This was a pathetic battle! And, to think, I was training hard for it!"

"I'm still here!" Hiei growled as loudly as he could.

"A puny injured fire demon? Yes, I'm so scared I'm shaking!" Masaka laughed again. Hiei's anger became out of control. His spirit energy shot up tremendously.

"You'll pay for that. Kokuryuuha!" The bandages on his right arm burned up and showed his black dragon tattoo as it came to life. Its jaws open, it hurled for Masaka.

"What, no!" Masaka screamed in shock, terror in his eyes.

Hiei concentrated his remaining bit of spirit energy into his attack. It swallowed Masaka whole, leaving no trace of him whatsoever. Hiei's knees buckled beneath him and he sank to the floor, breathing heavily. His vision blurred and he fainted as he hit the ground.

Chikara groaned, rubbing her head. She rolled onto her side, propping her head up with her hand, to survey her surroundings. Gasping, she saw everyone unconscious on the ground and no trace of Masaka to be seen. She picked up a few faint spirit energy readings, coming from the boys, Botan and Yukina. She staggered over to the person closest to her: Hiei. Grabbing his arm, she checked his pulse. It was a little slow, but not too much. She did that with everyone else and sighed, exhausted. The ones with the weakest pulses were Kurama and Yusuke. They needed medical attention. But how could she give it to them. She was no doctor and Yukina was out cold. Her head started hurt and she hit the floor. Her vision began to blur and she held her head. Whimpering in pain, she crouched on the floor, her hands clutching her head. Her consciousness slipped away and everything turned black.

Groaning, Chikara's eyes fluttered open. She took in the sights of the hospital and sat straight up, panicking. Where was she? Last thing she remembered, she was at the Sentosa Spa. Blue ogres rushed around, carrying various objects. Seven other beds, each housing an unconscious person, lay in a row to her right.

"Glad to see you've waken up," a cheery voice penetrated her thoughts and Chikara turned around. A nurse was standing next to her bed, a clipboard in hand, and she was smiling cheerfully.

"What happened?" Chikara asked groggily.

"Koenma-sama was very worried when Botan didn't report back her usual time, so he sent out a search party. You and the other detectives were all unconscious when we found you. You've all been out for five days now," the nurse informed as she arranged a bouquet of flowers in an ornate vase by Chikara's bed. _Five days…_

"Dang it!" Chikara muttered under her breath, flipping over her blankets and swinging her legs over the bed. Her feet touched and she stood up. Her knees buckled and she fell back on the bed.

"Watch it! You lost a lot of energy and you've only regained a little bit of it!" the nurse exclaimed, her hands on Chikara's arms. Shrugging off the nurse, Chikara attempted to stand once more. Clutching onto the bed posts for support, she lifted herself off the bed and on her feet. Her knees buckled again and she clutched the bed post with both her hands. Pulling herself back up, Chikara took a few steps so she could grip the other bed post. She repeated this many times and finally regained balance. She heard stirring from the bed that was right next to hers. Yukina's eyes opened and she pushed her upper body off the bed, supporting herself with her elbows.

"Hey, Yukina, you're awake. That's good, I was worried that my only company would be the nurse," Chikara added the last part when she made sure the nurse, who had left the room before Yukina woke, was out of hearing range. Yukina smiled and giggled, then pushed herself completely off the bed. Like Chikara, her knees buckled and she fell back on the bed. Chikara helped her get up and practice the walking exercise that she had just done. In turn, all of the others woke. Yukina and Chikara helped each one them regain balance.

"Hey, sis, this is probably a pretty bad way to start off your birthday, huh?" Yusuke asked after everyone had regained balance.

"It's your birthday today?" Keiko asked startled. Chikara nodded and a barrage of "Oh, happy Birthday!" hit her.

"Thanks, guys. Hey, do you guys know where we are?"

"Spirit World," a male voice came from behind her. Chikara turned around and didn't see anyone.

"Ahem, down here," Chikara looked down and was startled at what she saw. A baby dressed in a blue outfit with a large blue hat. He had a white pacifier in his mouth and letters on his hat. Chikara stared at him, unable to register in her brain what she was seeing.

"I expected that reaction. After all, you and Yusuke are related," he sighed. Chikara glared at him, unsure if that was a comment or an insult.

"Hello, Koenma-sama. Um, I can explain about my absence," Botan started nervously. Koenma held up his hand to stop her.

"No need, Botan. I understand some sort of demon attacked you. Most likely a demon from the one after Chikara," Koenma beckoned for them to follow him.

Down the hall stood two large wooden doors, which Koenma opened to reveal his office. He took his seat behind his desk and the others stood in front of him.

"I've been observing you," he began, pointing at Chikara, "and you have what we look for in spirit detectives. I'm sure you already know about Spirit World and your brother's job here,"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't know he worked for a baby," Chikara snickered.

"Rest assured, I am no baby, Chikara. I am indeed 500 years old, more so than I let on. Anyways, you have the potential to become a spirit detective. How would you like to officially work alongside your brother on missions?"

"Hmmm, let's see. Not having to go to school, working with Yusuke and possibly torturing him, beating up demons and putting my sword skills to use. Sounds good. I'll take it," Chikara said, more or less enthusiastically.

"Wait, what! Koenma, you're going to let my _sister_ work with me? Are you crazy? She doesn't even have any spirit energy!" Yusuke exploded.

"Don't worry, Yusuke. She does have spirit energy, although she hasn't shown it yet. A little bit of training and she'll be fine,"

"Yeah, bro, don't have a cow. I can beat you in fights just fine. So if you're able to beat these demons, then I can, too. Wait, what's this 'spirit energy' you guys are talking about?"

"Alright, fine, I give. Chikara, hold out your right hand and make a gun shape. Grab your right wrist with your left hand and aim," Chikara followed directions, not getting where this was going, "Good, now imagine a trigger in your mind. Got it?" Chikara nodded, "Alright, pull it,"

No sooner had she pulled the trigger, a ball of bluish-white light came out of her finger and exploded into the wall behind Koenma. The entire building shook with the force. When the dust had cleared, there were two ditches where Chikara's feet had slid backwards with the force. Shaking, Chikara lowered her hand, unable to grasp that she had caused the damage.

"That's your Spirit Gun. Since you're a beginner, you can only use that once per day. I can use it four times," Yusuke boasted.

"I-I caused…you're saying that that was…me who just…shot something?" Chikara stammered. Yusuke nodded.

"Very powerful blow, Chikara. Maybe almost as powerful as Yusuke's," Koenma complimented, "Botan, please remind me to get that repaired later," he added, pointing the hole in the wall. Botan nodded and Koenma turned back to Chikara.

"I also hear it's your birthday. Congratulations, Chikara. Normally, I would have you start training right away, but, seeing as it's your special day, we'll pick it up tomorrow. That said, I'll get you all back to Earth," Koenma snapped his fingers and a portal appeared. They stepped through, Botan bringing up the rear.

Chikara hit the sofa. The portal had teleported them back to her living room. She ran to the phone. There were five new messages, all from one person.

"'Chikara, are you there? Pick up, girl!' 'Chikara, where are you? Call me back!' 'Girl, if you don't pick up this phone, you gonna get it!' 'Dang it, Chikara, answer me already!' 'Chikara, hurry up! We need to talk!'"

"Who was that?" Kuwabara asked, annoyed at the last message, which had been recorded with whining.

"Do you really need to know? Tell you what, if you get down on your knees, beg and plead and cry like a baby and promise to be my slave forever, I'll tell you," Chikara answered sarcastically. She smirked at Kuwabara's pout, "Didn't think you'd still want to know," she said simply, picking up the phone. She punched in a few numbers and let it ring.

"Hello?"

"What's up, girl?"

"Chikara, you finally called! Where were you? Do you know how many times I called? Happy birthday, you're a year older!"

"Ok, in order. Yes, Singapore, five times and one for each day I've been gone, and, finally, thank you. Does that cover everything?"

"Do you want me to answer truthfully?"

"No, not really."

"Fine, then. So, when is it?"

"Come over and help me, then we can get it started."

"Ok, then, I'll be right over. Bye."

"Bye."

Chikara hung up and turned. The others were sitting patiently on the couch, looking at her.

"Who was that and what were you talking about?" Yusuke finally asked.

"Why do you need to know?" Yusuke pouted and Chikara smirked. The doorbell rang and Chikara went to get it.

"Morning, Chikara! Let's start!" A girl about Chikara's height stood at the door with a big smile on her face. She was wearing a tight blue tank top with spaghetti straps that ended about an inch below her pant line and flared blue jeans that were tight until they flared. She had 1 bracelet on each wrist; one blue that says water on it and the other is red and says fire. Around her neck she had a black choker with a silver cross on it.

"Hey, Mizuhi. Let's go to my room," Chikara shut the door when her friend was inside and led her to the stairs.

"Hey, Yusuke, what's up?" Mizuhi gave him a friendly greeting.

"Oh, hey, Mizuhi. I should've known it was you all along. You're the only one who would leave a message on our machine every day we were gone," Yusuke greeted back. Mizuhi smiled at the comment.

"Ok, is anyone else here as lost as I am?" Kuwabara asked. Everyone's hands, besides Yusuke, Chikara and Mizuhi's, went up. Chikara sighed.

"Ok, this is Mizuhi, one of my best friends. She lives, like, two houses away from here. Mizuhi, this is my brothers's 'posse', to say the least. Let's start with the girls. The one with brown hair is Keiko, Yusuke's _girlfriend_," Chikara smirked at the fiery blushes on Keiko and Yusuke's face when she put the emphasis on 'girlfriend', "the one with the light blue hair in a ponytail is Botan and the other girl with blue hair is Yukina. Alright, now introducing the boys. The one with the red hair is Kur…uh…Shuiichi, the one with orange hair is Kuwabara and last, but not least, the dark dude is Hiei."

"Nice to meet everyone. Come on Chikara, let's go!" Mizuhi pushed Chikara up the stairs.

The others watched Chikara and Mizuhi go upstairs. They heard the door close and looked at one another with confusion.

"Ok, I have a few comments about your bro's 'posse'. First off, red-head is a cutie, second off goth boy is…ok never mind, I don't feel like saying it, and lastly, orange-hair guy is ugly." Mizuhi coughed out the last word and stared at Chikara.

"Ok, then…my comments on your comments. 'Red-head' is, as far as I know, single, 'goth boy', I'd probably agree on your comment about him and, about 'orange-hair', way to go!" Chikara and Mizuhi laughed and gave each other a high-five.

"Anyways, let's get down to business." Mizuhi suggested when they quieted down. Chikara nodded and listened to Mizuhi ramble, her emerald green eyes watching as Mizuhi's sapphire blue eyes stared at the ceiling, occasionally nodding or shaking her head and throwing in comments.

"What do you think they're doing up there?" Kuwabara asked after a while, hearing the girls' laughter.

"Thinking up ways to turn the house upside down, most likely," Yusuke grumbled. Keiko elbowed him to show her disapproval.

"Well, I think we're about to find out soon," Kurama pointed out, "Here they come."

Mizuhi and Chikara came downstairs and ran into the kitchen. A few seconds later, they ran back up the stairs, a can of root beer, a box of doughnuts and a box of cinnamon rolls for each.

"Ok, that was really weird. While they're upstairs, I'm going to play _Super Smash Bros_. Anyone want to join?" Yusuke commented and reached for first controller.

"I'm in. Anything's better than just sitting here," Kuwabara agreed, reaching for second controller. Kurama nodded and grabbed third. Hiei sighed and picked up fourth. Pretty soon, sound effects and cheers echoed through the house.

"I don't remember the game being _that_ interesting," Mizuhi laughed as she munched on a doughnut.

"Well, at least we know they won't bug us for a while," Chikara nodded, finishing a roll. She took a sip of her root beer and settled down on her floor, her back on her bedpost.

"Alright, do we have everything?" Chikara asked her best friend. Mizuhi nodded, studying the list they had made.

"Let's get started then," Chikara mirrored Mizuhi's nod.

They heard Mizuhi and Chikara come down.

"We need you guys to go upstairs and stay there until we tell you guys you can come down," Mizuhi requested. Yusuke shrugged and moved off the sofa, heading towards the stairs. The others followed him upstairs into the guest room.

"Thanks everyone!" Mizuhi shouted over her shoulder when she heard the door shut. She checked to make sure that the door was all the way shut and then whispered, "All clear, Chikara! Come on down!" Chikara appeared at the top of the stairs with a large box in her arms.

"Carefully, Chikara," Mizuhi cautioned, taking the other end of the box. They walked slowly downstairs and placed the box on the coffee table. Chikara opened it and coughed at the dust. Mizuhi waved it away and pulled out the contents of the box one by one, laying them out on the coffee table. Chikara and Mizuhi looked at each other and smiled.

"Chikara, hurry up!" Yusuke yelled through the door of the guest room.

"Hold on! Ok, you guys can come down!" Chikara shouted back. Yusuke and the others filed out of the room and down the stairs. The group gasped. Everything was pink, black and silver and had wolves on it. Even the "Happy Birthday!" banner had wolves. Chikara and Mizuhi sat on the couch as the others surveyed the living room.

"Do you guys like it? It's for Chikara's party," Mizuhi explained.

"Party? Isn't it a little late?" Keiko asked. Chikara shook her head.

"Actually, we were planning this since the beginning of August. I already told my friends about it so they already know. They're heading over now."

"Now? Chikara, we haven't bought cake or anything!" Yusuke stared at his sister.

"No worries. Mizuhi's a whiz at cooking, which is why she was in charge of the food. There are two cheesecakes in the fridge and Mizuhi's making cupcakes later on. As for drinks, Mizuhi brought two six-pack root beers and we got like five of those six packs left, not to mention other soda and drinks. Everything's taken care of," Chikara shrugged. The doorbell rang and Chikara went to get it. She came back in and was followed another girl, about Mizuhi and Chikara's height. She had on a little bit of pink blush, sky blue eye shadow and pink lip gloss. Pink hearts, with a hoop around the heart, dangled from her ears. She had shoulder length brown hair and she was wearing a pink skirt that reached her knees and a white t-shirt with the word 'Angel' written across in pink that ended at her waist. The shirt's short sleeves were cut in half so they produced two flaps.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Purachina. She's also my best friend and lives across the street from Mizuhi. Purachina, my bro's posse. You know Yusuke, the girl the with the brown hair is his girlfriend, Keiko," Chikara paused to smirk at the blushes and let Purachina snicker, "the girl with her blue hair up is Botan, the other blue-haired girl is Yukina, the guy with red hair is Shuiichi, the boy with orange hair is Kuwabara and, lastly, the short one is Hiei," Chikara finished off the introductions quickly. Purachina set the present she was carrying in her arms on the coffee table next to Mizuhi's.

"Thanks, Purachina. Hey, you want something to drink?" Purachina nodded. Chikara ran into the kitchen and appeared moments later with a can of root beer in hand. She leapt over the couch and handed it to Purachina. She set it down on the table, obviously not wanting it to explode on her. Chikara smiled. She ran upstairs and came back down with her CD case in hand. She put a Green Day CD into the stereo and cranked it up. _American Idiot_ came on and Mizuhi, Purachina and Chikara jumped onto couch and started singing along. They danced to the music, laughing their heads off. The others just stood by, watching them. The doorbell rang again. Chikara picked up the remote and paused the music, much to the protests of Mizuhi and Purachina, and ran to door. Chikara let out a cry of joy. Three boys stood at her doorstep. One of them had dark brown hair, another had blond and the third had black hair. They were all spiked, except for the brown haired-boy, whose hair was hanging in his face. Chikara led them in. Mizuhi and Purachina greeted them with glee.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Kevin," Chikara introduced the blond-haired boy wearing a gray Puma t-shirt and tan baggy zipper pants, "Mishiko," she pointed at the brown-haired boy with a black Green Day t-shirt and black cargo shorts, "and Rikunai," pointing at the black-haired boy with a blue basketball t-shirt and black and blue basketball shorts.

"Kevin, Mishiko, Rikunai, I'd like you to meet my bro's posse," Chikara took a deep breath. This time, she just said their names as she pointed at them, "You already know my brother, Yusuke. Meet Kuwabara, Shuiichi, Hiei, Keiko, Yukina and Botan. And of course you already know Mizuhi and Purachina."

"Nice to meet you all. Hey, Mizuhi, Purachina, what's up?" Mishiko greeted warmly. Rikunai and Kevin just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey guys. Long time no see, huh?" Mizuhi and Purachina greeted back. The three boys smiled.

"Alright, just a couple more people and we're ready to get this party started!" Chikara announced happily. She picked up the remote and hit the play button. Chikara, Mizuhi and Purachina immediately jumped onto the couch and resumed their dancing. The song picked up where it left. Kevin, Mishiko and Rikunai laughed, set their presents on the coffee table and joined in. The song ended and _Jesus of Suburbia_ came on. The ones who were dancing flopped onto the couch, exhausted. Chikara cranked down the volume just enough so they could hear each other talk. Yusuke and the others sat all around, watching the three boys and girls talk and laugh.

"So, you like basketball, Rikunai?" Kuwabara asked, attempting to start a conversation.

"Yeah, I've been playing since I was five-years-old. You interested?" Rikunai looked at Yusuke with curiosity in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm a big fan of hoops myself. Five-years-old? Dang, you any good?" Kuwabara replied, interested in Rikunai's hobby. Rikunai nodded.

"Of course he's good! He's been the star player on our school's boy basketball team two years and counting and he takes courses over the summer. He's also the star player at his courses!" Purachina exclaimed triumphantly. Rikunai blushed a little at the praise.

"Cool, so you're kinda like Chikara, you know, except for she plays volleyball," Kuwabara mused.

"And basketball, too. She's the star player on our girl basketball team. Two years and counting," Rikunai said.

"Really? I never knew that! Why didn't you say anything?" Botan asked earnestly. Chikara shrugged.

"Did you really need to know?" Chikara asked.

"She hasn't changed a bit," Mishiko commented and Chikara smirked. She suddenly got up and went over to the stereo. She took a microphone off the top the stereo, plugged it in and threw it over to Mishiko.

"Just to pass the time, why not do karaoke?" Chikara suggested. _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ had started.

"Come on, Mishiko. You know this is your song," Chikara teased. She rewound it to the beginning and sat back down in her spot. The music and the words appeared on the screen. Mishiko matched it word for word, never singing off-key. The song finished and everyone applauded for him.

"Wow, you're really good," Yukina complimented when he was done.

"Thanks," Mishiko thanked, "Alright, who's next? Chikara?" Mishiko held the microphone towards Chikara. She sighed and got up. Swapping CDs, Chikara made herself comfy between Mishiko and Mizuhi. The music to _Mockingbird _came on and Yusuke sighed. Chikara smirked and watched the words. She also matched the song word for word, keeping her pace with the song, never going off-key. When she finished, she handed the microphone over to Mizuhi, who got up to choose her CD. Avril Lavinge's _My Happy Ending_ came on. The microphone kept getting passed until everybody but Hiei, who refused to participate, had done a solo.

"Ok, we can do duets or trios or you can do another solo if you want," Chikara announced as the microphone got handed back to Mishiko.

"Alright, then. Chikara, let's do our song," Mishiko suggested with a devilish grin on his face. Chikara made a sour face.

"You guys have a song? That's really sweet," Yukina sighed. Chikara glared at her and Yukina shrunk into her seat.

"It's not really our song," Mishiko explained, "It's like a childhood thing."

"Better believe it," Chikara muttered.

"Oh! I know what you're talking about! Yeah, sis, you should sing it!" Yusuke's eyes lit up with mischief as he dawned on the subject.

"Say one more word and I swear I will kill you," Chikara threatened in a low voice, glaring deathly at Yusuke. Yusuke shrunk away from the look.

"Oh, come on, Chikara! Just for old time's sake! Please?" Mishiko pouted.

"Fine, but I get to choose your next duet," Chikara grumbled. Mishiko shrugged and nodded. Chikara got up and chose a CD to put in. Grabbing the spare microphone off the stereo, she settled back into her seat, waiting for the music to start up. A techno upbeat came on and French words appeared on the screen.

"What the heck is this?" Kuwabara asked, trying to make sense out of the words on the screen.

"_Un Monde sans danger_, the theme to one of their favorite shows. It's in French," Yusuke explained.

"And you guys can sing this?" Mizuhi asked. Chikara and Mishiko nodded and began singing along with words. They were in tune and in sync with each other throughout the whole song.

"Wow that was great!" Yukina applauded when they had finished.

"Alright, I get to choose your duet," Chikara grinned devilishly as she looked around. She pointed, "Hiei is your partner," she concluded. Mishiko and Hiei looked at her with anger and surprise on their faces. Chikara smirked and shrugged. The girls tried to suppress their giggles and the boys had amused expressions on their faces.

"I told you I was not going to be part of this!" Hiei shouted.

"Awww, please, Hiei? You haven't done one yet and it's my birthday," Chikara puppy-dog pouted. Hiei glared at her. An angry expression took over Chikara's face. "Fine, be a stick in the mud. Sing with Rikunai, Mishiko," Chikara turned away from Hiei and handed her microphone over to Rikunai. Mishiko went up and selected a CD. Green Day's _American Idiot_ came on.

About an hour later, Chikara announced that everybody could only do one more song.

"Come on, Purachina, Chikara, let's do our trio," Mizuhi begged. Purachina nodded and Chikara shrugged, getting up to switch CDs and grab the extra microphone. Botan and Keiko handed their microphones over to Mizuhi and Purachina. Romanji appeared on the screen and a slow beat came on.

"What's this?" Kurama asked.

"_Ryuusei_, by TiA," Chikara explained and the three girls began singing.

"I want to do _Tsuki to Taiyou_," Chikara announced after they had finished. The others shrugged.

"Shouldn't you change CDs?" Kuwabara asked after a little bit. Chikara shook her head, "This is a mix CD. It's next." More romanji popped onto the screen and a very slow tune sounded. Chikara began singing softly.

Her voice lingered in his brain. It was so soft and melodic, full of emotion, as if it were her song she was singing. He watched everyone else sink into her voice and allowed himself to sink in as well. It was so gorgeous, he couldn't resist. His eyes started to close and her voice faded away as the song ended.

Chikara hit the last note as the song ended. Kevin, Kurama and Hiei's eyes popped open.

"That was amazing!" Keiko exclaimed. Chikara shrugged.

"Hey, Chikara, is there anyone else coming?" Yusuke asked.

"Yep," was all Chikara said, "Come on, let's go into the kitchen and get some refreshments," she suggested and stood up. The others agreed and filed into the kitchen. Chikara swapped the CD in the stereo with her Green Day CD and let play before heading into the kitchen.

"Ugh, I'm starving! Can we have some of the cheesecake?" Kuwabara pleaded, clutching his stomach as it growled. Chikara and Mizuhi shook their heads and turned towards the cabinets.

"B-but why not?" Kuwabara whined as the two girls pulled out flour, eggs, bowls, an eggbeater, spoons and other various objects.

"Not everybody is here yet," Mizuhi replied, setting some of the stuff on the counter. "You can have a drink if you want, or see if there's anything else in the fridge," Chikara suggested as she brought over the rest of the stuff. Kuwabara got up and rummaged through the fridge as Mizuhi and Chikara surveyed their ingredients for cupcakes.

"We need the cupcake papery things. The ones that hold the cupcake together," Chikara tried to explain her reasoning. Mizuhi smiled in understanding and started looking for them. She pulled them out of a cabinet, put on the spare light blue apron that Yukina had used before, throwing Chikara her black and pink one, and the two girls set to work making the cupcake batter.

Five minutes, ten minutes then 15 minutes went by and the others sat at the kitchen table watching Chikara and Mizuhi work on cupcakes.

"There, that should be good," Mizuhi sighed, wiping her forehead in exhaustion with her upper arm. Chikara set the paper holders into the cupcake pans and poured the batter into each one of them. She filled four trays of six and stuck them into the preset oven. Mizuhi shut the door and set the timer, then let them cook as she cleaned the countertop. Chikara gave her a hand and, when they were done, they cleaned themselves up. Chikara sighed and smiled at Mizuhi, who returned her smile.

"So when do we get to eat the cupcakes?" Kuwabara asked, licking his lips.

"Hold your horses, pig. We still need to decorate them and wait until the others arrive," Chikara sighed. Kuwabara groaned, clutching his still hungry stomach. He hadn't found anything to satisfy his hunger in the fridge and was dying as he watched the two make cupcakes. Their sweet aroma surrounded him and filled the kitchen.

_Ding._ Chikara and Mizuhi looked up from the _One Piece_ manga that Chikara had picked up in Singapore. They got up and opened the oven door, pulling out four trays. Two of them held chocolate cupcakes and the other two plain.

"Ok, how are we going to decorate these?" Mizuhi asked, letting the cupcakes cool. Chikara shrugged.

"Um…how about…we could use pink and black frosting," Chikara suggested.

"Of course, pink and black," Mizuhi sighed and nodded. Chikara pulled a tube of black frosting and pink frosting out of the cabinet.

"Here, pink with the plain cupcakes and black with the chocolate ones. I'll take the pink ones," Mizuhi suggested, taking the pink frosting. Chikara nodded and set to work squeezing frosting out of the tube onto the cupcakes.

"There, that should do it," Mizuhi sighed satisfied, putting the last touch of pink on the cupcakes.

"All right, we've got black and pink sprinkles, too," Chikara said, looking inside a cupboard. Mizuhi sighed. Chikara threw the sprinkles over her shoulder and they flew into Mizuhi's hands. She turned around and opened the packets.

"So I'm guessing pink sprinkles with black frosting and vice versa?" Mizuhi looked at Chikara, handing her the black sprinkles. Chikara nodded and added some sprinkles on each cupcake. Mizuhi followed suit, then stepped back to survey the cupcakes. Chikara cocked her head and smiled satisfied.

"There we go. Cupcakes are done, still got plenty of drinks and the cheesecakes are in the fridge. Everything's ready to go when the last two guests come," Chikara approved.

"I just wish they'd hurry it up," Mizuhi sighed, "They're late as it is and everyone must be suffering from hunger by now,"

"Mmm," was Chikara's response. Her emerald green eyes stared out the kitchen window.

"What are you looking at?" Mizuhi followed Chikara's gaze and stared at a tree branch. Suddenly, Chikara jumped onto the counter, pushed open the window and jumped out. Mizuhi, startled by the sudden movement, fell on the floor and let out a strangled cry. Everybody came rushing into the room and Kevin knelt by her, supporting her.

"What happened? Where's Chikara?" Yusuke looked at Mizuhi, as did everyone else.

"I don't know. She just jumped out the window with out saying anything," Mizuhi explained. Kevin helped her to her feet and she leaned against him for support.

"Hey, look, there she is!" Kuwabara pointed out the window. Everyone followed where he was pointing. There sat Chikara on the same branch that she had been staring at earlier, holding a baby robin in her hands. Next to her was a nest with a larger robin and three younger ones. They were all chirping to the one in Chikara's hands.

"No worries. Your baby will be fine. A broken wing, that's all he has," Chikara was saying to the adult bird. The bird chirruped and Chikara smiled.

"Hear that?" she said the baby in her hands, "They're worried about you. They want you to be ok," the baby bird uttered a small and weak chirp, "Your mom's worried about you. Don't get her worked up over nothing," Chikara stroked the baby bird and returned it to the nest, "Take care of him. Don't let him leave the nest for another good three weeks," Chikara advised the mom. She chirruped in gratitude. Chikara smiled as she watched the mother fuss over the injured baby.

"Hey, Chikara, and happy birthday! What are you doing up in a tree?" A voice from below called out. Chikara looked down and waved. Two girls with a present in their hands stood below. One had blond hair down to her lower back, hazel eyes and glasses. She was wearing a soccer jersey and a pair of faded blue jeans, accompanied with red rose earrings. The other girl had black hair with a blue streak, brown eyes and also wore glasses. She sported a black tank top with a heart on it, sparkly jeans and a pink bead necklace.

"Hey, you guys! Good to see you! Be down in a minute!" Chikara shouted back. She glanced once more at the birds and jumped down branch to branch. When she was on a branch about 25 feet from the ground, she front flipped off of it and landed on the ground in front of the two girls. They smiled and applauded. Chikara did a fake bow and grinned.

"Hey you guys! Hurry up you guys! You're late as it!" Mizuhi and Purachina shouted out the window.

"Hey Mizuhi, Purachina!" the two girls smiled and waved. Chikara led them in through the front door.

"Sorry we're so late. We had to take a detour since there was construction on the road," they explained as they walked into the house.

"No problem, we just finished making cupcakes anyways," Chikara shrugged, "Let me introduce everyone. You already know Kevin, Rikunai, Mishiko, Mizuhi and Purachina. This is my brother, Yusuke, his girlfriend Keiko, Botan, Hiei, Shuiichi, Yukina and Kuwabara. Everyone, this is Elizabeth-McKenzie Anne," Chikara introduced, pointing to the blond, "and this is Kiniki," pointing to the black-haired girl.

"Nice to meet you," Kiniki said politely.

"Ditto. You can call me Lizzie by the way. Hey, Chikara, let's get this party started!" the blond half-shouted.

"Alright! Let's party!" Chikara agreed and high-fived Lizzie.

"Can we have some food first?" Kuwabara groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Actually, Mizuhi and I thought of something when we were making the cupcakes," said Chikara slyly as she walked over to Mizuhi.

"That's right," nodded Mizuhi. Kuwabara sighed.

"Really, let's here it then," Kevin folded his arms.

"You have win contests to get food. When you win, you can choose one cupcake or a slice of cheesecake," grinned Mizuhi.

A series of protests came up from the group. Mizuhi and Chikara shrugged and walked into the kitchen. Everyone else grumbled and followed them in. The two girls led them out into the backyard.

"Ok, the first contest is a good old fashioned potato sack race," Chikara pointed at the potato sacks lying in the green grass. Mizuhi ran across the yard and strung up a long red ribbon. Everybody else got into a potato sack and Chikara stepped out of the way. Hiei just stood behind everybody.

"Come on Hiei! Get in the bag!" Mizuhi yelled. Hiei stood still. Chikara walked over, picked up his sack, went over to Hiei, lifted him off his feet and stuffed him into the bag.

"I'm fed up with your attitude! It can't hurt, not even you, to have fun!" Chikara yelled as Hiei tried squirming out of the sack. She marched back over to her position. Hiei gave up reluctantly and got ready to race. Everybody was silent.

"Ready, set, GO!" Chikara yelled and everybody took off, including Hiei. Kevin and Mishiko crashed into each other and fell wriggling on the grass. Kiniki and Lizzie tripped over them and tangled themselves. Kuwabara collapsed and brought Yusuke down with him. Yukina, Keiko and Botan made a futile attempt to race and tripped over each other about one-fourth of the way. Hiei was the slowest one still competing and he got into "fights" with his sack. Finally, the sack won and he fell onto the grass. Kurama and Purachina were head to head for first place and Rikunai was right behind them. Chikara ran to the finish line so she could see the winner, or possibly, winners.

"Wow, looks like we're gonna have a tie," Chikara panted. Mizuhi nodded and stood out of the way of the racers. The three crossed the finish line.

"We have a winner!" Chikara yelled. Everyone who had fallen got out of their sacks and groaned, rubbing their sore areas. The girls tried to get their hair back in order. As they did, they gathered around the finish line to watch Chikara and Mizuhi declare the winner.

"Alright guys, each one of you did great!" Mizuhi praised.

"And all of you participated as well. Hopefully it'll happen on all of the other competitions," Chikara said lightly, glaring coldly at Hiei. Hiei glared right back. Chikara broke contact and turned to face the crowd.

"And the winner is…" Mizuhi took a dramatic pause. Everyone leaned forward, including the three finishing racers, who were convinced that they had come in second or third. Mizuhi took a dramatic pause, just to tease everyone.

"Oh, come on! Tell us who the winner is! I want to get to the next contest so I can win some food!" Kuwabara shouted. Chikara and Mizuhi glared at him and returned to their announcement.

"The winner…is…" Mizuhi trailed off. Chikara opened her mouth to continue it but was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Everyone faced the backdoor as it creaked open. Three blue demons each holding a large wooden club stepped out. Lizzie, Mizuhi, Kiniki and Purachina all screamed. Mishiko, Kevin and Rikunai wore terrified looks. Kuwabara, Botan, Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Keiko, Yukina and Chikara glanced at each other with startled looks.

"All right everyone! Listen up! Get out to the front yard, pronto!" Chikara yelled out instructions. With a stern glance to the gang, she led her other guests who were unaware out to the front yard. Keiko, Yukina and Botan helped Chikara usher them out and stayed out in the yard to calm them down as Chikara ran back to help.

"What is up with you guys? Can't your boss take a break once in a while?" Chikara yelled angrily as she faced the demons. They chuckled and shook their heads.

"The boss wants your powers as soon as possible before you get a chance to improve, and possibly perfect, them. And he knew that that dope Koenma wouldn't train you today since it was your birthday." The head demon ranted.

"Yeah and you just wrecked my party!" Chikara yelled back. With that, the four guys charged, attempting to catch the demons off guard. No luck. They were blown back with a single swing of the clubs. All four crashed into the ground and slid back next to Chikara. Chikara's temper flared and she herself charged. She dodged the head demon's swing and landed a perfect upper cut before she jumped back to the guys. The head demon staggered back and rubbed his chin. With a nod, he and the other two demons raised their clubs to strike and ran in. Chikara and Hiei, who had gotten up, fought off the three demons as the other three were recovering from the blow. Chikara faced one demon while Hiei took the other two because he had a sword and was more experienced to fighting them. One of the demons Hiei was fighting took advantage of the 2-to-1 ratio and snuck away from the fight. Before Hiei or Chikara could do anything, the demon raised his club and smacked the three boys. They hit the ground, out cold. Crying out, Chikara dealt a roundhouse kick to the demon she had been fighting and, knocking him out cold, flung him across the yard. She ran over to her brother and checked his pulse, then Kurama's and Kuwabara's.

"They're fine." Chikara called out Hiei, who had just finished obliterating his demon. She turned to the demon that had knocked them out who was laughing crazily.

"You're gonna pay for that! Spirit Gun!" Chikara cried out, making the hand sign she had learned earlier in the day in Koenma's office. Just then, Mizuhi ran into the yard, Botan trailing her.

"Chikara! What's going on?" Mizuhi yelled and stopped in her tracks to witness Chikara shooting off her Spirit Gun. The demon cried out as the blast hit him and disintegrated into nothing. Chikara collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard. Mizuhi stood stunned as did Botan, not expecting Chikara to pull out a Spirit Gun, especially with such low Spirit Energy.

"What…" Mizuhi trailed off, unable to complete the question. Chikara looked over her shoulder, hoping Mizuhi hadn't seen what she just thought she'd seen.

"Chikara…" Chikara caught her breath. She had. There was nothing to do now except explain.

"Mizuhi, come here. Let me explain…" Mizuhi sat down next to her best friend as the explanation filled her ears and her brain absorbed it all.

"And that's it," Chikara finished. She studied Mizuhi's face, searching for any signs that she hadn't just died from shock. Mizuhi took a deep breath.

"Wow…you're so lucky!" Mizuhi screamed. Chikara looked startled.

"What?" Chikara managed.

"Being a Spirit Detective, having powers, that sounds so cool!" Chikara smiled. Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan and Hiei stood nearby, listening intently.

"That's it, Mizuhi. That's all there is to tell you," Chikara answered. Mizuhi nodded.

"Now let's go to the front yard. I'm sure the others are worried sick and about to kill Yukina and Keiko." Chikara smiled and helped Mizuhi up. The four guys and Botan followed them out to the yard, waiting to see what happened next. Yusuke caught up to his sister.

"Not the best way to celebrate your birthday, huh?" Yusuke whispered in Chikara's ear. She shrugged and threw her arm around Mizuhi's shoulder.

"Well, not my perfect birthday, but it suits me just fine."


	5. Place In The Spotlight

Author's Note: I'm gonna do it this way now because I really don't want to make the title pages anymore. Anyways, I'm gonna stop using Japanese too because I have reconvert it back to English when I publish it to a website so yeah…It was pretty hard to come up with this topic so if it stinks, apologies in advance.

"I'm so sorry you guys. Those stupid whatever-they-ares ruined my party." Chikara and the others coming from the backyard put on a solemn face.

"That's ok." Kevin shrugged.

"Still, I think it's a little…time wasting. And I'm tired. I think I'm just gonna call the party to the end. I'm really sorry you guys." Chikara apologized. Everyone shrugged.

"That's totally fine." Mishiko shrugged.

"Although, we'd like to see you open your presents and eat some food," Purachina added. Chikara nodded and they headed inside.

Two hours later, Mishiko, Kiniki, Lizzie, Rikunai, Purachina, and Kevin went home. The others laid on the couch in the living room. Chikara sighed and got up, checking the clock.

"Dang! I'm gonna be late!" She yelled and jumped up, knocking over Mizuhi and Kurama in the process.

"Late for what?" Kurama asked, helping Mizuhi, who was blushing fiercely, up.

"Rehearsal!" Chikara yelled back, slipping on a black sweatshirt with pink cuffs and pink on the inside of the hood. Everyone followed her to the big community theatre a couple blocks away.

Inside, two dozen people were dressed in costume and wandering around the theatre. There were two adults, both female, on the stage, engaged in a conversation. They looked up when Chikara came in.

"Chikara, you're here! Where have you been? We need you to start!" One of the adults threw up her hands.

"Sorry! My party took longer than expected! This is my brother and his group of friends and my friend Mizuhi. They followed me here so they're going to be watching us, ok?" Chikara said hastily, hopping up on stage.

"Alright! Just go backstage, get in your costume and let's start rehearsal." The other lady followed Chikara backstage and the first lady proceeded to yell at some boys who were goofing off.

"What's going on, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, looking around.

"Oh! Chikara tried out _Fiddler on the Roof Jr._ a while ago and she got lead part. She has dress rehearsal today." Mizuhi answered and took a seat. The others did as well.

"This should be interesting." Hiei said monotonously as the first lady clapped her hands.

"Alright everyone! Listen up! Chikara is here so let's get started! We will also be having unexpected guests in the audience so treat it like it is the actual performance! Places! From the top!" She ran offstage and the lights dimmed. Chikara came out in costume. The musical flowed along.

An hour later, they were running through it for the third time. Kuwabara and Yusuke had zoned out, Hiei was bored out of his mind and the girls and Kurama were absorbed in the play.

"Alright, intermission, everyone!" The lady shouted and the cast filed off the stage. The group in the audience stood up and stretched, searching for Chikara. She came off the very last.

"Wow that was really good!" Keiko congratulated. Chikara offered a small smile.

"Who knew you were an actress too?" Botan said excitedly.

"Have you been acting for long? You seem like it!" Yukina complimented.

"Hey! Give her some space guys! She just finished acting!" Mizuhi shooed the girls back two feet.

"Thanks, Mizuhi. Thanks you guys. I'm glad you like it. My first performance is tomorrow. It's a dinner theatre."

"That's pretty cool. Can we come?" Kurama asked.

"Wait, what's a dinner theatre?" Kuwabara wondered.

"You see the performance and you get dinner." Yusuke explained.

"Oh cool! Count me in!" Kuwabara shouted. Chikara laughed.

"Hold on guys! I've got to get you the tickets first!" Chikara went backstage and came out two minutes later with eight tickets in her hand. She passed them out.

"There you go. Make sure you get to my house by 5:30 PM tomorrow if you to come. The dinner starts at 6 PM." Everyone thanked her and went back to their seats as intermission ended. Chikara took her place back on stage. The play continued late into the afternoon.

It was late in the evening before the rehearsal ended. The last of the sun was starting to disappear over the horizon. Kuwabara and Yusuke yawned as they stepped outside.

"I think it's time to call it a day. I've got to go home. Bye, everyone." Kurama waved and headed towards his house.

"I think it's about time we all head home. See you tomorrow, guys. Bye, Yukina." Kuwabara headed off. Keiko walked in the opposite direction.

"I've got to get back to Spirit World before Koenma-sama starts to worry." Botan said and, materializing an oar, flew off. Hiei and Yukina, not wanting to go back to Makai, decided to spend the night with Chikara and Yusuke. Mizuhi parted ways with them when they reached the neighborhood.

Yusuke unlocked the door and flipped on the lights. It was 9 PM when they got home. Hiei took his place on the windowsill as Yukina, Chikara and Yusuke headed up the stairs.

"Good night, everyone." Yukina said as she shut the door to the guest room.

"Night." Yusuke responded as he headed into his room.

"Mm-hmm," Chikara mumbled as her door closed. She thought about a number of things. Her party today, Mizuhi, her performance tomorrow. But she found herself thinking mostly of Hiei. She shook her head. Today must've been too hectic for her to handle if she was thinking of that obnoxious fire demon. Slipping into her sleeping clothes, she fell asleep fitfully, images of Hiei flitting through her mind.

Hiei heard her door close and saw the lights go off. He sighed and stared out the window. She had really dazzled him with her performance today, despite what he showed. He knew Kurama had already figured it out. He just couldn't stop thinking about her. She was nearly perfect and soon she would be working with him. When Koenma was talking to her, she had mentioned something about swords. Did practice sword-fighting? He rarely heard of a girl wanting to swordfight. When she became a detective, was she going to use her Spirit Energy or her sword? Or both? Was she so skilled that she could figure out how to use both to her advantage? Of course he had already mastered it. But he had been training long before she had probably been born. But if she was Yusuke's sister, that meant she was part demon, too. Did she know? She was second in line to Raizen's throne. He wondered if she knew any of this. Hiei fell asleep wondering.

Kurama stared at his feet shuffling. He had never known Hiei to be interested in a girl. He wondered how his friend was feeling right now. He had never had to deal with these emotions before. Kurama's mind wandered to Chikara. Raizen's second heir. Had Yusuke told her yet? Probably not. After all, Yusuke just decided today to tell her about Spirit World. He wouldn't have told her about her father yet, not before Spirit World. And what about her powers? Did Koenma know what kinds she possessed? Why were her powers so valuable to whoever was after Chikara? Kurama sighed as he reached his house. Tomorrow, Chikara would be joining the team. It was going to be interesting from there on out.

Botan's hair flapped in the wind as she flew up to Spirit World. She sighed. What would life be like with Chikara joining the team? Surely there would be a major impact. Even now, when she wasn't on the team, she was having a big impact, what with all the attacks. Botan stared at the handle of her oar. She didn't like change very much, especially not big ones. It was…overwhelming, to say the least.

Chikara yawned and opened her eyes. The sun was starting to peek through. She remembered about today's performance. Ecstatic, she showered and went downstairs, not bothering to change yet.

"Morning, Hiei," Chikara greeted on her way to the kitchen, not surprised to find that he was already awake.

"Hn." Chikara ignored that and made two slices of French bread, humming a tune. Yusuke and Yukina came down as Chikara flopped on the couch.

"Morning, you two," Chikara greeted, munching on a slice of bread.

"Good morning, Chikara." Yukina said back.

"You're in a good mood," Yusuke observed.

"I can't wait until the performance!" Chikara finished off the first slice and started on the second. The door bell rang. "I'll get it." Chikara got up and headed toward the door.

"Morning, everyone!" Mizuhi said cheerfully when Chikara opened up.

"Morning, Mizuhi. You're early." Chikara said as she let her friend in.

"I know but I couldn't wait!" Mizuhi said excitedly. Chikara smiled.

"Hey, how about some breakfast?" Chikara offered. Mizuhi nodded and headed toward the kitchen, Yusuke, Yukina and Hiei following. Chikara made some more slices of French bread.

"Sorry, guys. That's all I'm having. If you want more, help yourself." Chikara said as she finished off her second slice and gave everybody their slices. No one complained and Mizuhi and Chikara talked rapidly about the performance.

"Sorry to interrupt your big day, but you seem to have forgotten something," Koenma said as he appeared in their kitchen. Mizuhi screamed.

"Koenma! You couldn't have used the door!" Yusuke yelled.

"Your training starts today remember?" Koenma asked, ignoring Yusuke.

"Can't it wait for one more day? This is a really big day for me!" Chikara pleaded.

"No can do. Remember, someone is after you for your powers. You need to master them and use them against him before he gets his hands on you." Koenma shook his head. Chikara pouted.

"Fine then. If being Spirit Detective means giving up a once in a lifetime chance, then I don't want to be one." Chikara turned her back to Koenma. He and Yusuke stared at her in shock.

"Are you crazy, Chikara! The demons are still going to come after you and ruin your chance even if you do quit!" Yusuke snapped. Chikara's shoulders sagged. Koenma looked from Chikara to Yusuke, then back. He sighed.

"Alright, we'll compromise. Chikara can start training today, before her performance. Then I'll send her through a portal when she needs to be at the theatre. Get ready and Botan will be coming to escort you." Yusuke and Chikara looked up and nodded. Koenma nodded back and left. Botan appeared shortly after Koenma left.

"Good morning!" Botan said cheerily as usual.

"Morning. Help yourself to some French bread." Chikara gestured and went upstairs to change, leaving the others to talk.

Locking the door, she changed into black stretch capris with a pink strip of fabric running down the outside of each leg and small pink wolves running around the hem and a black t-shirt with a pink wolf on the front. Checking the mirror, she slid down the stair railing into the living room.

"I'm ready." Chikara announced, slipping into black and pink sneakers. Botan nodded.

"Alright, let's go then." Botan created a portal and they all stepped through.

They ended up in a large room. The sides were wooden, as was the smooth floor which echoed their footsteps. A few wooden posts stood here and there; otherwise, the room was bare. On one wall was a door and about 10 feet up above it was a large window, where Koenma was watching. His voice came over an intercom.

"Alright, Chikara. We'll be training you against your new teammates today. Kuwabara will be first, then Kurama, then Hiei and finally your own brother. Kuwabara, stay down there. The rest of you, go through the door and up the stairs." They did as instructed, disappearing behind the wooden door as it shut, reappearing in the window a few moments later.

"Alright, Kuwabara, Chikara, ready?" They nodded and positioned themselves. "Fight!" Koenma declared. Kuwabara automatically constructed his Spirit Sword. Chikara studied the weapon carefully.

"All right, let's see what you got!" Kuwabara yelled, charging at Chikara. Right as he swung, she pivoted on her right foot, lifted her left leg in the air and caught Kuwabara by surprise. The impact of her leg against his back sent him flying in a wall, which was dented. He slid to the grounding, rubbing his back.

"Geez, just kill me, why don't you?" He yelled.

"Do you want me to?" Chikara asked simply and turned toward the window. She smirked at the astonished looks on everyone's faces but Hiei's.

"Nicely done, Chikara. Kuwabara, you can come up and rest. Kurama, it's your turn." Kuwabara headed through the door as Kurama appeared. In a moment, Kuwabara was watching through the window where Kurama had been. Kurama showed a small smile and Chikara nodded in acknowledgement.

"Begin!" Koenma yelled. Kurama pulled out a rose and it transformed into his Rose Whip. Like with Kuwabara, Chikara studied the weapon as Kurama raised the handle, preparing an attack. Before he could, she ran toward him, ready to perform an upper cut. Kurama, startled, raised his arms to defend himself. Chikara ducked and swung her right leg around, tripping Kurama. His whip suddenly wrapped around Chikara's leg. Surprised, Chikara hit the ground on her stomach as Kurama fell to her right. Kurama stood up and pulled his whip tighter around her leg.

"Dang…" Chikara muttered. Her hand slipped into the pocket of her capris and pulled out a pocketknife. Kurama and everyone else had a surprised look on their faces as the small blade sliced through the whip. What had been around Chikara's leg slipped off as she back flipped away. She flicked the blade back in and put the pocketknife away. Chikara smirked at the faces she was getting. She felt blood going down her leg from the thorns on Kurama's whip. Ignoring it, she readied herself for the Spirit Gun.

"No way! She's gonna go for it!" Kuwabara yelled inside the booth.

"What are you thinking, Chikara?" Yusuke muttered, intent on the battle. He knew that Kurama was a tough opponent, especially when he was merely testing limits.

"Spirit Gun!" Chikara cried out, pointing at Kurama. Kurama instantly jumped to his left, still watching Chikara. A look of shock passed over his face as she vanished.

"Gotcha!" Her voice came from behind. Kurama's head turned in time to see a large blast headed his way. Before he could do anything, it hit him head on and he was sent skidding on the ground a good 20 feet. Chikara, exhausted, hit the ground as the shot died away, leaving Kurama severely injured. The people in the booth stood still as what just happened hit them.

Chikara struggled to stand. Pain seared through her entire body with every passing moment. She could see that Kurama was unconscious, that he was close to the brink of death. Clenching her fists, she forced herself up and staggered over to Kurama. As she stopped by his body, she collapsed on her knees, her hand on his chest. Yusuke realized what she was doing at the same time as the others.

"Are you crazy, Chikara!" He yelled over the intercom. "If you give him Spirit Energy to live, then you'll die!" He left the room and flew down the stairs, knocking down the door. Chikara was already attempting the process.


	6. Exit: Right

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to get up! School's been really hectic and my computer's been having some problems. Anyways, here's Chapter 6! Oh, and to Whisperwings, here's the change you wanted.

* * *

"Leave me alone, Yusuke!" Chikara attempted to stall her brother by using her legs. He dodged them with no effort and grabbed Chikara's arm.

"Stop it! Why do you always have to be so stubborn? Can't you for once listen to me? This won't help!" Yusuke finally succeeded in disconnecting the flow. Kurama remained still as Yusuke and Chikara stumbled backwards. The others rushed in, trampling the already dent door. Chikara was getting dizzier by the second, but she managed to focus. Koenma and Botan went over to check on Kurama, then looked up at Chikara.

"How did you know how to transfer Spirit Energy?" Koenma asked. The others looked at her.

"I didn't. I just…well, did, I guess. Why? Is it a big deal?" Chikara asked. Koenma and Botan traded silent glances with each other. An awkward silence fell over the group as Yukina went over to heal Kurama the best she could. Before she reached him, his eyes opened and he groaned. Everyone was startled by his sudden movement.

"Kurama! You're not dead!" Kuwabara pointed out. Hiei and Chikara snorted inaudibly.

"No, but I am confused. What happened?" Kurama asked, rubbing his head.

"I don't think anybody knows," Mizuhi said, walking over to him.

"Well, whatever it was, Chikara managed to save you without destroying herself. That's a good technique, however she picked it up." Botan said, looking over at Chikara. She was leaning on Yusuke for support as the fight began to take a toll on her.

"Well, it looks like training will be cancelled. Chikara got her wish after all," Koenma sighed. Chikara gave a small smile.

"Cool…" Chikara trailed off as she slipped into unconsciousness. Kurama, too, passed out on Mizuhi, who was blushing fiercely.

"We should get them back to my place and let the rest. We'll wake Chikara when it's time for the dinner theatre," Yusuke suggested and lifted Chikara gently. Mizuhi struggled with Kurama and finally gained help from Kuwabara. Koenma created a portal to send them back to Yusuke's living room.

"So, Koenma-sama? What do you think of Chikara?" Botan asked when they were gone.

"I don't know. Something's not right about her…" Koenma trailed off.

"But you have to admit, she's a good asset to the team. And, if she joined, it would be much easier with Yusuke. He could protect her from demon attacks, she could improve her skills and we'd still have missions completed, if not even faster."

"That's true, Botan. But still, I'm skeptical about letting Chikara be a Spirit Detective. If she does become one, her powers may end up costing the team more than helping. We still don't know who's after her, nor do we know what kind of powers she controls. The whole thing's a gamble, really," Koenma sighed.

"Yes, it is. But if she isn't a Spirit Detective and demons still continue to attack her, Yusuke will most likely put her first. They are close, even though they argue a lot. And that would upset our missions if Yusuke is busy protecting Chikara. In fact, the whole team would be affected, don't you think? They've already started getting close with Chikara, so it should boost their morale a little if she's on the team, right? And, it's not really too much trouble about her powers. She's starting to learn what she can do and she's got great control. She should be able to master her Spirit Energy as fast as Yusuke did," Botan protested.

"This whole thing is still a gamble. I'm going to my office to think." Koenma sighed and started to walk away.

"Don't forget, I'm still going to Chikara's dinner theatre," Botan reminded. Koenma just waved a hand in the air. She sighed as she watched Koenma disappear through the doorway. It was a hard day for him, deciding whether Chikara should or shouldn't join the team. Even she had doubts about Chikara. But she was still for it. She sighed again and created a portal to Yusuke's living room.

Everyone was gathered on the couch as Botan arrived. Chikara had been put in her bed and Kurama was sleeping in the guest bed. Sensing a discussion about to take place, Botan got rid of her oar and took a seat on the couch arm rest next to Yukina. A silence fell over the room until Kuwabara brought up what they were all thinking.

"Is Chikara going to be our new team member?" All eyes turned to Botan.

"Why do you guys automatically assume I know the answer?" Botan snapped.

"You work with Koenma." Hiei said simply. Botan sighed.

"Truth is, I don't know. I don't think even Koenma-sama knows yet. Chikara's got great skills and we could really use her on the team, but her powers are just totally unpredictable. Not to mention the demons and whoever is after her. It makes it a hard choice and I don't blame Koenma-sama for not knowing."

"Well, I don't think he should let her." Surprised, everyone turned to Mizuhi, who had a firm look on her face.

"What? But, I heard you supporting Chikara in the yard when she told you all about it!" Yusuke pointed out.

"I know. I thought it was cool then, but now I see. Chikara shouldn't take this on. She's got enough to do as it is and she doesn't need the pressure," Mizuhi continued.

"What? But we all have time to deal with it! Why shouldn't she be able to move her schedule around?" Kuwabara protested.

"Hello! Yusuke skips school every other day or so! And I bet you don't even care about your marks! He doesn't even go to school, much less do something for his future," Mizuhi pointed at Hiei, who scowled, and continued, "And neither do you two girls!" Mizuhi looked at Yukina and Botan. Her sapphire eyes were blazing with fury.

"What about Kurama? He gets good grades and he can still do this!" Kuwabara retaliated.

"But I bet he doesn't have as much going on as Chikara! She's got to balance volleyball, basketball, her schoolwork, her social life and her future! She doesn't need to be part of fighting demons when you guys can handle that fine!" Mizuhi clenched her fists, ready to argue some more. Everyone stared at her silently, acknowledging her point.

"I know you care about Chikara, Mizuhi, but you've got to look at it from our point of view. She needs to be protected as much as possible with all those demons after her powers. And the guys can't do that if they're off on a mission," Botan explained.

"Chikara can very well fend them off herself." Mizuhi said stiffly.

"I second Mizuhi's opinions." Yukina said quietly out of the blue. Startled eyes turned to her and she stared down at her lap. A deep silence fell over the room as they waited for Yukina to explain.

"B-but, Yukina, why?" Kuwabara asked, nearly whined.

"Because Mizuhi's right. Chikara doesn't need this kind of pressure. And it's up to her whether she wants to be part of this or not. We can't make this kind of decision for her," Yukina explained softly.

"But she wants this, more than anything in the world." Yusuke matched Yukina's softness (A/N: Which could very well mean the apocalypse is here!) and sighed.

Upstairs, Chikara listened carefully to every word they said. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she curled up into a ball. Wrapping the blanket around her tightly, she sniffled and buried her face into her pillow. She hadn't meant to cause this much trouble, to pit the team against one another. Her sobs echoed quietly in her room as the discussion continued on downstairs.

Across the hall, Kurama, too, was tuning in. He could also hear Chikara's soft sobs. He stared at the ceiling, knowing what Chikara was going through. He also had to make a choice like this. Although it was much easier for him since it was either this or prison after stealing one of the three Artifacts. A soft chuckle escaped his lips and he turned on his side, closing his eyes and listening to the conversation downstairs.

"It's just not fair. Why are you putting so much pressure on her? A while ago, she would've never agreed to this. She told me that at the end of elementary school. From junior high on, she would focus on her career and her academics. The sports, because she loved them so much, she would do as an extra thing that was almost as important." Mizuhi said in a barely audible whisper, her body trembling with a sign of tears.

"But we can't help the fact that someone has targeted her for powers that nobody knew she had. There's no way we could've seen that coming," Botan said comfortingly. Yukina sympathetically rubbed Mizuhi's back, her crimson eyes shining with care and sadness. Mizuhi kept her head hung low so her hair covered her face. But her body still shook with tears.

Chikara did all she could do to stop the loud wail in her throat. It came out as a soft and long sob, coupled with a waterfall of tears. Her pillow was wet now and her blanket was starting to absorb the tears. She staggered out of bed, wandered over to her armoire and opened it. Her eyes looked at the various swords and daggers she had hanging. Choosing a black handle dagger with a pink wolf design and a matching sword, she stuck them in their appropriate sheaths and placed them in her blood red duffel bag.

Next, Chikara went to her closet and changed into a long, loose grey t-shirt with a white dragon design on front and baggy black cargos. She stood in front of her mirror in the bathroom and messily washed out the pink streaks. Splashing her face to wash the tears, she regained some of her composure, though she was still on the brink of breaking down again. After inspecting her hair, she went back to her closet. She threw on a hooded dark blue sweatshirt and, putting her hair into a ponytail, pulled up the hood. A pair of black sunglasses completed her boyish look. Sighing, Chikara threw her laptop with wireless Internet, an extra boyish outfit, her wallet and all her money and all the spare food she had in her room in her duffel bag, making sure to cover her weapons. A dusty, old spare blanket was retrieved from the corner of her closet and was laid on top of everything.

Finally, she grabbed two notebooks, her pencil box and her cell phone off the top of her dresser and her mother's ribbon and laid them carefully in the side pocket of the bag. Zipping the duffel bag up, she looked around her room one last time to make sure she had gotten everything. Chikara sighed, slung the duffel bag over her right shoulder and slipped into a pair of spare black and blue sneakers. Checking her look one last time, she opened the window and jumped onto the nearest branch of the tree outside. Jumping from one branch to another, she made it to the ground with a soft thud. Her eyes went automatically to the living room window. A sigh of relief escaped her as she realized no one had seen or heard her. Now was the time.

_Cutting through the yard is the fastest way out, but it's much too risky. The safest way would be to run towards the actual entrance of the neighborhood, but that'd give them a lot of time to discover I was gone and come after me. I need all the time I can, especially with Hiei there. What to do…_Chikara mused. Deciding on a new route, she climbed the tree again and leapt to the tree in the yard. She knew she wasn't going to be able to land on the branch; but that wasn't her plan. As her body flew downward, she stretched out her hands and caught the lowest branch. Her leap's momentum was still in effect so she swung over the back fence and landed on a hill. As soon as she landed, Chikara began to fall backwards but she regained her footing and ran around the hill, escaping into the streets. When she reached the sidewalk, she slowed to a walk and disappeared into the crowd of people. _Yes! I can't believe it worked!_ She cheered silently and continued to walk.

Kurama's eyes opened and he burst out of the guest room and opened Chikara's. Emerald green eyes scanned the empty room and he gasped in shock, turning to run downstairs to inform the others.

Hiei already knew. By the time Kurama reached the bottom, Yusuke was already cursing his little sister, with Botan bopping him on the head for saying so. Mizuhi was trying to get through the uproar to the door. Exasperated, she stood up on the coffee table.

"SHUT UP!" Mizuhi screamed. At once, everyone became silent and froze. Under Mizuhi's firm instructions, they managed to get out of the house and start looking for Chikara. Mizuhi was listing off Chikara's usual hangouts, telling Botan, Kurama, Yukina and Kuwabara to start their search there and fan out. Hiei, to Yusuke and Mizuhi's insistence, was searching for Chikara with his Jagan Eye. Yusuke was running around, asking neighbors who were actually awake and home if they had seen Chikara.

Fifteen minutes later, nobody had found her, not even Hiei's Jagan Eye. They went back inside to rethink their plan.

"Hiei, can you try and contact her through in her mind?" Kurama asked. Hiei grunted and turned away, focusing on finding her.

"I'll call her cell. Most likely, Chikara will have it with her. She's on speed dial." Mizuhi pulled out her own phone and called Chikara. Botan went back to the Spirit World to receive Koenma's aid.

Chikara reached for her cell phone and pulled it out, peering over her glasses to see the screen flash Mizuhi's picture. Sighing, she put it away and continued walking. Figures they would've known she was gone by now. She felt Hiei try to communicate telepathically with her but she closed her mind. She didn't want to be found. All she wanted was to be left alone. Her big performance flashed in her brain and she shoved it out. She was giving it all up now. It didn't matter anymore. All of it was behind her now. She was starting a new life alone, with nothing to worry about. She thought back to day she first met Hiei, which wasn't a long time ago. _You were wrong, Hiei. No one understands me. I'm the only one I have in these mixed up worlds. No one else, just me._

The girl in the streets raised her head high and walked on. When she reached an alley, she ducked in and brought out her dagger, unsheathing it. Her hood fell back and long ponytail of gorgeous black hair cascaded down her back. With one swift and accurate swing of the arm, locks of black hair floated down on the ground. The tie holding it in place fell and landed in the midst of the locks. She took off her sunglasses and looked at her reflection in a puddle. With quick movements, the rest of her hair was straightened. The dagger was sheathed and placed at the bottom of the duffel bag and the hood was pulled up again, the sunglasses placed on the bridge of her nose. She emerged from the alley and continued down the streets.

No longer was Chikara Urameshi alive. No, she had died long ago. She had died after the first attack. Yusuke Urameshi was now an only child; had been an only child the past few days.

A girl walked down the streets into her new life. Her name? Even she didn't know. All she knew was that her old life was over. And the life and tale of Chikara Urameshi, sister of Yusuke Urameshi, second in line to inherit the kingdom of Raizen, ends.

A/N: Well? What do you think? It took me a long time to figure out how to end this chapter. Even I had no clue what I was going to do until I typed it all, so I'm sorry if it seems off. Please review and give me your opinion. If enough people ask, I'll continue this or work on a sequel.


	7. Author's Note!

A/N: Omg, thank so much for all of you who stuck Mixed Up Worlds to the very end! –passes out Pocky-

I know this is really late, but I finally made a decision. There WILL be a sequel! I'm starting on it right now and summer vacation's almost here! But this year, I'm extremely busy, so I can only write/post so many chapters.

Thanks again and I hope that you'll enjoy my currently-unnamed-sequel as much as you did Mixed Up Worlds.

Then again, sequels are never as good…

Okay, now I'm just ranting.

Anyways, much thanks for being patient! Bye!


	8. Author's Note: It's Here!

A/N: Hey readers! You still here? Haha.

Just dropped by to let you all know that the sequel to Mixed Up Worlds is officially up! Those of you who wanted to know what happened to Chikara, that will be explained as the story goes along. But I will definitely wrap up the loose ends of Mixed Up Worlds! Sorry I kinda left you with a cliffhanger there. But it gave me incentive to write more Yu Yu Hakusho, right? Haha.

Anyways, go check it out if you want. It's my only other Yu Yu Hakusho story other than Mixed Up Worlds, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

Thank you all so much for your support!


End file.
